A Favor
by PhoenixedDragon
Summary: Since when do Gajeel and Natsu peacefully engage in conversation? … Forget about that, since when do the fire and iron dragon-slayers exchange anything else, other than insults, punches, and kicks? Something is definitely not right here. -NaLu, GaLe- Upped to M for language and adult situations, just to be sure.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! This is my first fanfic ever, so please review and let me know what you think.

I love to picture the possible interactions between the two dragon-slayers when talking about _their_ girls... Mmm, I hope Gajeel and Natsu aren't OOC. Anyways, hope you like it...

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

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"A Favor"

Gajeel entered the guild that morning eyes focused on finding his target. Rapidly spotting the lone pink-haired dragon-slayer sitting all the way at back of the guild in one of the corners at the bar, he decided to approach the idiot before his determination faltered and he ended up sidetracking back the way he came. _Common Gajeel, you can do this. _He encouraged himself moving at a steady pace until he reached Mira's bar. After taking a small but most needed breath, he said, "Hey, Salamander, got a minute?"

The words startled the fire mage who, to the red eyes that observed him, seemed to be oddly lost in thought. _What is up with him? _

"Hmm?" came Natsu's reply, as he turned around to find the iron dragon-slayer taking the seat next to him. Gajeel called Mira over and asked for a glass of the strongest liquor she had in stock. Waiting until he had said drink in front of him and for the nosy barmaid to retire to serve someone else, he repeated, "I said I need a favor, Salamander." The dark-haired man uttered such words in the lowest of voices, a statement intended to be heard only by the heighten senses of the dragon-slayer sitting beside him. The last thing Gajeel needed right now–or ever, he might add–was to have the rest of the guild know he was asking _for help,_ and much less that he was asking for it from none other than _the idiotic, loud, destructive, fire-breathing ass_ he considered his rival, otherwise known as Natsu Dragneel.

Gajeel's words caught Natsu's attention, snapping him out of whatever thought he seemed to be currently struggling against. Raising a quizzical brow and, as a mocking smirk made its way to adorn his face, he turned to look at his fellow guildmate, "You don't say… _You_ need _my_ help?" The fire dragon-slayer made sure to emphasize his words, reveling in the thought of having Gajeel Redfox admit to needing _his_ help. He chuckled; _It appears I'll be having a better day than I originally thought._

Natsu watched as the facial expressions of the iron dragon-slayer hardened. "Don't gloat on it you bastard! This is hard enough as it is," Gajeel replied, with a sting of anger in his words. The fire mage chuckled once more. _Oh, this will definitely prove to be worth my time. _

"Well, what is it?" Natsu said, now really intrigued by his guildmate's sudden approach and persistence in asking for his help despite of his teasing. It had to be something important, or the iron dragon-slayer would have sent him flying the second the slightest sound of laughter left his throat.

"I need you to do something for me," Gajeel answered, and continuing in an almost murmur, he added, "You see, I need you to melt a certain piece of metal so that I can mold it into a certain something." The fire dragon-slayer's curiosity spiked even more, and voicing his thoughts, he asked, "What are you trying to make?" To what he got a frown and a "that's none of your business, fire-breath!" in response.

Natsu took a sip of his drink and returned his gaze to Gajeel. "Look, if you really want my help, then you'll have to tell me exactly what it is you want." The iron dragon-slayer hated to admit it, but he could find no way out of spilling the beans to the idiot sitting to his right, and said idiot knew that. Gajeel spotted the arrogant smirk on his face… _Asshole._ "Tch, fine," he said, "Last job I went on I got paid in some old gold coins, and well, I want you to melt them for me so I can turn them into some sort of necklace, okay?"

"A necklace?" Natsu asked. "I knew you liked to stud yourself with jewelry, just not _that_ type, Metal-face. Have you been secretly hanging out with the Ice-princess?" Before the seriously pissed-off iron mage could walk away cursing, Natsu grabbed his wrist and quietly murmured, "It's for Levy, isn't it?"

Gajeel stopped abruptly on his tracks, and silently appreciating his fellow guildmate's concern for secrecy, sat back down and nodded.

"So, you're finally going to make your move, huh?" the fire mage asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Took you long enough… I'll do what you want, as long as I can get a favor from you in exchange."

"Oh, and what would that be, Salamander?" Gajeel asked, red eyes angrily glaring at the mage sitting next to him. Natsu laughed, "Relax, it's not like I'll ask you to dress up and act like Happy like last time you lost a bet." Gajeel's stare became more deadly–if that was even possible–, while the mage next to him continued to laugh without giving him any notice. "Don't remind me of that, you asshole," he spitefully replied, "I still hear chuckling around the guild, I don't know how many idiots I've beaten to a pulp for their gossiping, and I've yet to find the rest of Redus's paintings that demon of a woman had him made of me in that ridiculous blue costume!"

Before Natsu could finish guffawing at the precious memory of the iron dragon-slayer dressed up in a blue leotard, accompanied with fluffy ears and a puffy tail all courtesy of Erza's ample collection, their conversation was interrupted when a flying blue cat came crashing down on the bar with a loud "Natsu!" The fire mage turned to look at his partner as he ungraciously landed on the counter. "What is it, Happy?" he asked. The Exceed, delaying his answer, decided to examine first the scene he found before him. _Since when do Gajeel and Natsu _peacefully_ engage in conversation? … Forget about that, since when do the fire and iron dragon-slayers exchange anything else, other than insults, punches, and kicks? Something is definitely not right here._ Happy's thoughts were suddenly cut short.

"Ah… Happy? Are you okay? What's up buddy?" The blue cat turned to look at his foster father with a smile, deciding to leave the oddity of the current situation for another time. He could probably ask Mira later, she always happened to know what went on around her bar anyways. If he knew the takeover mage at all, he could guess she was as intrigued as he was, and had probably already eavesdropped on the conversation the two dragon-slayers were having before his intrusion. But that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun… Natsu had been keeping to himself lately, and Happy had felt lonely… A devious smile began to form on his face.

"Ah, Natsu! Right! Lucy wanted me to tell you that you left your laundry at her apartment, and that she refuses to wash your dirty underwear, even if your flame boxer-briefs are 'ridiculously and unbelievably cute,'" Happy almost yelled. The fire mage's face turned bright red with embarrassment, as Gajeel, Mira, and a number of other guildmates close enough to hear Happy's "message" began to laugh, quite loudly if he could add, at him.

_Damn it Happy! Was it really necessary to yell that for the guild to know? And damn it Lucy, did you really need to send Happy to tell me that? At least Ice-breath isn't here to rub this in my face... But if I know these idiots at all, I'm sure he will find out eventually. Fuck. _Before Natsu could reproach anything, Happy added, "Oh! I almost forgot, Lucy also wanted me to remind you we have a mission to get to, and that you need to be at the train station at 6 if you don't want Erza to kill you."

Natsu's eyes widened in realization. _Shit. I forgot about that… Guess that's what Lucy _actually_ wanted Happy to tell me… And that's why that walking Popsicle isn't here right now. Double Fuck._

"You forgot, didn't you, Natsu?" Happy stated, more than asked, with an amused smile on his face. The fire mage then began laughing his embarrassment off as he got up from his seat at the bar. "Yeah, yeah, remind me to thank Lucy for saving me from Erza's wrath when we get there, okay?" The cat only laughed, giving his usual "Aye!" for an answer, and proceeded to look for Charle before leaving the guild. He had a fish to give to the white cat. He had especially wrapped it, much to Lucy's dismay and anger, in one of her pink ribbons. "I'm going to look for Charle, so I'll meet you all at the train station, okay?" Happy said as he flew away without really waiting for an answer from the fire mage.

Before following his partner, the fire dragon-slayer turned to his guildmate who was still seating in the same place, remnants from a laughing fit still visible as he watched the iron mage's finger wipe what looked like a tear from his left eye. He was probably waiting for a conclusive answer from the pink-haired mage. "I'll be back in two days. I'll help you with your problem then," Natsu said. The black-haired mage nodded as both their eyes met, forming a silent agreement to keep their conversation private. But before the fire mage could leave, and catching him off guard, Gajeel casually asked, "So, what is it that you need Salamander? From what you said, it looks like you already have something in mind." Natsu leaned down to answer, wanting to avoid the prying ears he knew were probably around, or, to be more precise, hiding behind the bar, "As much as the thought of publicly humiliating you amuses me, I think this 'talent' of yours might come in handy in the near future, Metal-face." The given answer sparked the iron dragon-slayer's curiosity. Trying to get some sort of revenge for the previous blatant mockery of his emotional vulnerability, he retorted, now wearing his own proud smirk on his face, "Oh, don't tell me you want to start wearing jewelry now? I'm sure I could arrange for some pretty earrings to match that pink hair of yours perfectly."

The fire mage glared back at his rival, angry flames dancing in his pupils. The iron dragon-slayer knew Natsu would not be willing to endure any more humiliation than what he had already suffered all thanks to his buddy Happy just moments ago. _Now I have him, Gi hee; _Gajeel mentally congratulated himself for successfully provoking the fire-breather. "I have no time to argue with you right now," he hissed. "There's no way Erza's beating me up because of you, today. I already said I'd help you claim your mate once I come back. So, just keep quiet about it and we can both get what we want then, alright?"

The dark-haired mage's smirk transformed into a full out laugh as his suspicions proved correct. "So, this thing you want has something to do with Bunny Girl, huh?" As the anger and embarrassment of the other dragon-slayer made their way to his face, Gajeel continued, content with now leveling the arena and eliminating the advantage the fire idiot had previously held over him, "As you said, relax. It's not like I'll go running to tell Bunny Girl you want to start having little baby dragons soon." Gajeel felt, more than heard, the anger in Natsu's reply, "It's not like that, you asshole! And keep your voice down." _Serves you right Salamander. Who's the whipped one now, huh? _Gajeel opted to keep such thoughts to himself. He did in fact need the fire-breathing idiot's help if he wanted to make that locket for Levy. He'd overheard her tell Lucy about how she'd received an old family heirloom, and he'd be damned if he let an opportunity like this go to waste. He would never admit it to anyone, let alone out loud, but he kind of, in the slightest, tinniest of ways, envied the dragon-slayer who was currently standing in front of him trying to control his emotions. For some reason, that idiot had found the guts to claim his mate around a year ago, and he was now tired of watching his own from a distance.

After a brief pause and a menacing glance from the pink-haired mage, who seemed to have calmed down a bit, the iron mage added, "So, what is it that you want me to forge?" without actually expecting an answer.

Natsu let out a defeated sigh as he straightened up one more time. He approached the bar and downed what remained of the fire whiskey in his glass. As he was leaving he muttered a single word that made Gajeel spit out whatever liquor he had just put into his mouth, and turn to face the retreating dragon-slayer with a look of utter shock. "Are… Are you serious?" The words came out of his mouth before he had even processed what he was saying. Gajeel stuttered, no longer carefully whispering, and too stunned to even worry about someone possibly overhearing their conversation. Natsu didn't answer, and instead simply nodded as he continued to make his way out of the guild. _Well, I guess that explains why he was sitting alone and so far into La-La Land when I found him… _Gajeel finished the drink in front of him in one gulp and waved to Mira, signaling for a must needed refill. _I'll be damned. I think I might need a few more of these._

* * *

Mira watched as the figure across from her ordered another drink. She approached the iron dragon-slayer and refilled his glass. Overtaken by curiosity, she debated whether or not to ask about the earlier conversation between him and Natsu. Much to Mira's dismay, both dragon-slayers had made a terribly good job at keeping their voices from reaching her well-trained ears. She took another wondering look at the iron mage as he downed his second glass and asked for a third. "So, Gajeel," she finally said, just as she refilled his glass one more time, "what did Natsu say that surprised you so much?" Gajeel looked up to find the seemingly innocent, smiling Mirajane staring back at him, eyes hungry for information. He smirked, the older mage's prying bringing him out of his stupor. Taking the liquor bottle rather forcefully from her hand, he said, "Let's just say that if you think my reaction was enticing, _I _can't wait to revel in what _yours_ will be." With that, Gajeel left the bar to go sit suspiciously close to a blue-haired mage who was currently immersed entirely in what he considered a weird-looking, dust-festering book he was secretly jealous of, and leaving behind an extremely annoyed and unsatisfied bartender staring daggers back at him.

* * *

"So, what is it that you want me to forge?" he heard the iron dragon-slayer ask.

Natsu smiled to himself before sighing and deciding he might as well answer his fellow guildmate's question. It hadn't occurred to him before, but if there was anyone who could actually solve his problem, it was that idiot of an iron mage. He scuffed at the irony of it all. He had spent over a month looking for something remotely appropriate, and, besides it being time consuming, the search had drained him mentally. Trying to hide his "extracurricular activities" from Lucy was far from an easy task. Just as he was about to give up and drown in the depths of his own despair, the iron dragon-slayer had approached him with a problem of his own. As he heard what Gajeel needed, he couldn't help but realize that Metal face here, had actually unwillingly just provided him with an even better solution than what he could have come up on his own. Not that he would _ever_ tell that to the iron mage, of course.

Natsu approached the bar and downed what was left of the fire whiskey in his glass. He began walking towards the exit and without raising his voice to more that a whisper he uttered the one word that had been nagging him for the past 45 days, and counting...

"Ring"

He couldn't help but chuckle as he heard Gajeel choke on his drink.

"Are… Are you serious?"

Natsu nodded.

He felt relieved. He had been searching for a ring that would perfectly express his love for her; it needed to be delicate and feminine, while at the same time, stand his own explosive, blazing nature as well as the rough way of life of a mage. However, after twenty different towns, dozens of jewelry shops, and over forty excruciating train rides, he had found none that came remotely close to what he pictured Lucy's ring to be.

The fire dragon-slayer smiled as he spotted Lucy's window up ahead of him. After his "friendly" conversation with Gajeel, he knew that in a few days he would have the detailedly engraved ring he envisioned. If anyone could manipulate metal to perfection, it was Gajeel Redfox, and having the ring forged by the iron dragon-slayer turned out to be the ironically perfect solution to his mental torment.

Natsu jumped up and made his usual entry into Lucy's apartment through the window. Lucy greeted him with a smile, holding what he could clearly identify now as the wretched laundry bag responsible for seriously injuring his male-ego and causing irrefutable damage to his masculinity less than an hour ago. _That devious cat will pay for it! No fresh fish for a week… and no more cuddling in Lucy's chest._

Oh, he was definitely looking forward to executing Happy's punishment.

Lucy put the laundry bag down near her bed and made her way towards him, wrapping her hands around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. Without uttering a word, both shared a passionate kiss, taking their time to get lost in each other's smell and taste, and enjoying the electrifying feeling they experienced every time their bodies touched. They broke apart, and she opened her eyes to look at him. Bringing one of her hands forward to gently caress his cheek, she finally broke the silence, "Good to have you back. Now, hurry up and get ready. I don't want Erza to kill us both for being late."

Natsu returned the loving gesture, placing a chaste kiss on her lips before he broke the embrace to search for some clean shirts to put into his bag, not without giving a last scornful glance at the accursed laundry bag, his eyes widening when he spotted the before-mentioned flame-themed underwear.

A few minutes later, Natsu left the small apartment on Strawberry Street, fingers intertwining with Lucy's as he led the way to Magnolia's train station, and feeling, for once, "all fired up" about the adventure that awaited him on his return from the battle up ahead.

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So, how was it?


	2. Chapter 2

Hi!  
First of, I want to thank everyone who reviewed, alerted, and faved my story. THANKS SO MUCH, it means the world to me.

I have to confess I had originally thought about this story as a one-shot, but I forgot to label it as 'complete', and after I got all of your reviews, I just felt like I had to give you what you wanted. So, I sat down and started writing. And, I'm glad I did! This chapter might be a little bit more emotional, since I wanted to show how these two guys, as crazy as they are, have real, serious feelings for their girls. You know, I like to have that sort of complexity in characters. I tried to keep Gajeel and Natsu in character as much as I could, but I'm pretty sure there might be moments where they may not look that way.

So, this chapter goes out to all of you who reviewed and encouraged/forced me to see this through to the end, cause if it wasn't for you, there wouldn't be a second chapter...

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Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima

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"A Favor"

Chapter 2:

Natsu made his way towards the guild. His team had just returned from what he liked to call "another job well done." His teammates would probably disagree with the label he'd given it, but, hey, he was Natsu Dragneel, disaster and destruction were bound to happen whenever he was involved. That was just a fact of his Fairy Tail life and his "professional" career as a mage.

Technically, the mission should've only taken two days to complete, but since Natsu had burned three of the main buildings down – which Lucy had kindly referred to as "collateral damage" –, they had to stay another day to help clean the debris. Erza was fuming and Gray was yelling insults at him. Meanwhile, the town's major, Lucy, and Happy silently watched the scene developing in front of them with an amused smile. He knew the last two didn't actually condone his behavior, but they accepted the fact that extravagant destruction was part of Natsu's way of doing business. He had actually begun to suspect that Lucy secretly liked that side of him, but would rather eat one of Happy's dead fish than admit it out loud.

The situation only escalated when Gray, exasperated with the fire mage's carefree attitude to the whole thing, decided to send an Ice Make: Cannon at the dragon-slayer. Natsu, possessing those quick reflexes, dodged the attack easily, which ended up landing on the town's fountain, pulverizing it in the process and causing a small flood. Sadly for Gray, the fountain he had just destroyed was the town's "pride and joy," and had been there since the town was founded close to three hundred years ago. Erza's anger reached a new level of intensity that day, and Natsu was glad not to be in the receiving end of it. He winced at the horrible sounds of pain that escaped Gray's mouth. He felt sort of sorry for him. _Erza is scary, definitely._

After the little spectacle, the Fairy Tail mages worked expediently to clean up their mess (meaning Natsu's and Gray's), and donated a third of their reward to pay for the damages. They had gotten back to Magnolia rather late in the evening, all pretty exhausted from their activities. They had decided to head home and report to the guild in the morning; Lucy was craving a bath, Erza was still mad at Gray and wanted to cool off, and Gray needed to go home, or to Porlyusica's, and get his wounds treated.

Natsu walked Lucy home and said goodnight. He told her he needed to stop by the guild for a drink, and was glad when she didn't make any further inquiries. He could tell she was tired and needed to rest, and no bed in all of Earthland was as comfy as Lucy's. This the fire dragon-slayer knew well.

Natsu took a whiff as he approached the guild. He had to make sure Gajeel was actually there, if not he would just go home and wait to talk to his guildmate in the morning. He picked up the iron mage's smell, along with the scent of alcohol and blood, making him smirk. _Ah, good to be back. _When he entered the building, he rapidly spotted the other dragon-slayer sitting in his usual corner, so he walked over to his table.

"What the hell happened to you?"

This wasn't exactly how Natsu had intended to start the conversation that day, but when the iron dragon-slayer turned to look his way, he noticed the mage was pretty beat up and he was sporting a black eye that ranged from deep black, to yellow, and all shades of purple in between.

Gajeel looked up at the fire mage and scoffed, "Fucking demon woman…" Natsu was shocked. Everyone at Fairy Tail knew Mirajane was really strong and could get Erza-scary sometimes, but the amount of damage Gajeel was showing… that was not your usual Mirajane. "What did you do to get her _that_ pissed off? Natsu asked as he sat across from Gajeel.

The iron mage explained in his annoyed tone, "Long story short, I might have told her something along the lines of 'fuck off' and 'mind your own damn business' after you left for your mission. Let's say she wasn't happy about it and when I refused to tell her anything the next morning, the woman entered psycho-mode and went all Sitri Satan Soul on my ass. Lucky for me, Erza and Laxus were out on missions and her siblings were out shopping, so I had to wait for Makarov to snap out of his perv-daze to stop her." _Guess I learned my lesson the hard way. She's definitely not someone you want to piss off._

Gajeel noticed the gaping mage in front of him wearing an "I can't fucking believe I missed that epic battle" look. _Typical Salamander for ya._ "She's not really happy with me right now, and the only reason she hasn't tried to even out my other eye is because the old man threatened to fire her from her bartending job."

Natsu couldn't believe what he had just heard. It wasn't that hard to picture an angry Mira, but he had never seen her go all out on anyone from the guild before, not even Erza prior to Lisanna's so called "death." _Damn, what's with the women in this guild? Lucy kick, Erza knock-out punch, Mira rainbowed black eye… _

"Fuck, man, I'm sorry." Natsu said, as he scratched the back of his head apologetically. "So, perhaps, we shouldn't talk about things here. Should we go to your place?" he asked. The iron dragon-slayer didn't even flinch, "What makes you think you're welcomed there?" The fire mage nonchalantly replied, "Well, we need privacy, right? The guild's clearly a no, and my house is out too. Unless you want Happy to know, who, as you might have noticed, isn't the best at keeping secrets." Natsu watched as the iron mage's face momentarily displayed a crooked smile, probably reminiscing about the little stunt Happy put on last time he was at the guild. _Ah_! T_hat reminds me, prepare for hell, little furry traitor… _

Gajeel was definitely not happy about the situation, but that idiot had a point, "Fine, lets go before that woman decides to interrogate you too." He stood up and walked towards the exit, limping a little as he made his way out of the guild. Natsu felt a chill run down his spine as he watched the retreating mage, imagining Sitri Mira giving him a beating that equaled Gajeel's. He shrugged the thought off and followed the iron mage shortly after, deciding that if the two left together it would only arise suspicion. When he exited the guild, he followed Gajeel's scent and caught up to him a few blocks down. "This way, Salamander," he heard the man say.

Both shadows disappeared in the dark of night.

* * *

The dragon-slayers had been too immersed in their conversation to notice the blue fur ball that entered the guild ten minutes after Natsu. Happy didn't bother to approach them; he was, in fact, looking for Mira. He had originally intended to stay at Lucy's for a while before going home, but it wasn't until the stellar mage had gotten into her tub that he realized her fridge was all out of fish – _The horror! –. _He had almost suffered a panic attack. The Exceed was hungry, so he said his goodbyes to Lucy through the closed bathroom door and left for Fairy Tail in search of food.

"Mira! Do you have any fish? I'm starving!" The bartender looked down to find Happy sitting at the counter top wearing the cutest face he had in his personal arsenal of emotional manipulation techniques, the one he used when he really, really, really wanted something. "Sure I do Happy, give me one second." Happy smiled brightly, "Aye!" and then watched the mage disappear into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Mira reappeared with a medium-sized, chubby looking fish. The Exceed's eyes sparkled, and the second the fish left the bartender's hand and reached his, he put it into his mouth. He looked around the guild as he ate his tasty dinner, his eyes landing on the two dragon-slayers. _Is that Natsu and Gajeel again? What are those two up to? _After swallowing his first few bites, Happy called Mira over, "Mmm, Mira, do you know what is up with those two? he said, pointing at the dragon-slayers with the tail of his half-eaten fish. "They were talking about something before we left for our mission... It's weird."

Mira's gaze found the mages they were speaking of, "I don't know Happy. I tried listening to their conversation before," she confided, "but they were whispering, and Gajeel refused to tell me anything when I asked him. The bastard had the nerve to provoke me... but I showed him right!" The cat had paid close attention to the mage as she spoke. He noticed the evil smirk that appeared in her face at the mentioning of Gajeel and of her "showing him right." He could guess what she was referring to, and he _really_ didn't want to know the details.  
He heard her speak again, "Hasn't Natsu told you anything?" The blue creature's ears deflated, "No. Do you think he doesn't trust me enough to tell me?" The white-haired girl's countenance changed again, reverting to her cheerful, usual self. She was curious about the two dragon-slayers' out of the ordinary conversations, but she didn't want to make Happy doubt his friendship with the fire mage. "Of course Natsu trusts you, Happy! You're his closest friend next to Lucy," she answered with a kind smile. Happy returned her reassuring gesture with a small grin of his own and continued to eat his fish in silence. When he finished, he thanked Mira and left the guild to go back to Lucy's; perhaps she knew what was going on with Natsu. _Lucy's weird, she should know all about weirdos and weird situations._

* * *

Before, Natsu would have said that being dragon-slayers and an always-craving-battle attitude were the only things Gajeel and him had in common, but after entering the iron mage's house he had to add "way of living" and "philosophy about life" to the list. Gajeel lived in a small, one-floor house just outside of Magnolia, and just like Natsu's, it was packed with what he liked to call "memories." There was a rather large couch to his left with a small coffee table in front of it and a large bookshelf behind it (filled with all sorts of things except books, of course). The kitchen was to his right and, aside for the nice stack of dirty dishes piling out of it with a note that read 'It's your turn to do the dishes –Lilly', it was rather clean. Past the kitchen was a small empty area with a few boxes lined up next to a wall that was, to Natsu's surprise, filled with posters of what he presumed to be all the missions Gajeel had done in the past. It was official: both dragon-slayers were hopeless romantic hoarders of the first class.

Gajeel moved towards the couch and, after throwing some dirty clothes onto the floor, took a seat and signaled the fire mage to do the same. Natsu followed and sat on the other side of the couch. "Do you know already what you're making?" he asked. The pink-haired dragon-slayer examined his guildmate's empty-eyed expression as he answered, "I told you, a necklace."

"I know what you said, Metal-face, but what _kind_ of necklace?" came Natsu's reply. He knew the iron mage was still uncomfortable with the whole notion of asking him for help. He had to admit the situation was rather awkward, to say the least. Although they were both guildmates and respected each other's magical abilities, they rarely interacted outside of guild brawls. Their relationship was nothing like the one he had with the Ice-freak. He knew that behind all their fighting and rivalry stood a solid friendship, one that had started once they became a team. Yes, they were a team, ever since Erza had randomly appeared that fateful day and asked for their help to find that weird flute, with Lucy (and Happy) tagging along to keep the two males in check.

Natsu knew they weren't exactly friends but they weren't strangers either, and he had noticed Gajeel had changed after joining Fairy Tail. He didn't know the details of the encounter between him and Makarov, but he knew it had been decisive for Gajeel. The iron mage was a proud man, but he was also willing to accept his own shortcomings and learn from them. He really wasn't "bad at heart," just like Master had put it. He had tried in his own way to amend for his mistakes: He proved he could be relied on when they fought Laxus together, or when he protected his partner and the guild's pride at Tenrou Island. Natsu was glad the iron mage was a part of Fairy Tail, and looking at him now, supposedly not afraid of anything, quivering about a girl, proved to the fire mage that he had judged Gajeel correctly the first time they met. He really was a big teddy bear, all soft in the inside.

"Common Gajeel, I'm trying to help here."

The black-haired man looked at his guildmate. It's not that he didn't trust the guy; he knew the fire idiot was reliable and would keep his word. He didn't know exactly when it happened, but sometime after Makarov offered him a chance despite of his past actions, he realized that life was not only about the things you achieved, but also about who you shared those achievements with. For once in his life, he felt like he belonged somewhere, that people accepted him for who he was and didn't judge him. Heck, he found himself among a group of people where he could be considered "normal." Still, he had never been a people's person, unlike the cheerful idiot in front of him, who seemed to trot jollily through life, changing his demeanor to 'serious' for short periods of time of which you did not want to be the cause of (he had experienced his anger firsthand, and the fire mage had only gotten stronger since then). He had always preferred to stay by himself, but the Fairy Tail way had crept up on him, and next thing he knew, he was forming partnerships with cats, he was trying to help others, he was willing to show other sides of himself (like sharing his _fantastic_ musical talent), and – dare he say it – he was making friends. Above all that, he had allowed himself the opportunity to love and be loved. He didn't know when it happened, but now that it had, there was no going back. He was Gajeel Redfox, the proud mage of Fairy Tail who had fallen in love with Levy McGarden.

The iron dragon-slayer sighed, "I don't know yet. I was planning on visiting some jewelry shops to get some ideas befo…"

"You do_ not_ wanna do that, trust me," the fire mage interjected.

"What do you mean?" Gajeel asked.

"Have you forgotten what I asked you to do for me, already?" Natsu replied, and after looking at the quizzical look the other dragon-slayer was giving him, he decided to elaborate, "I've been looking for rings for over a month. Trust me, you won't find anything on those stores."

"To how many have you been?" Gajeel couldn't help but ask, his curiosity taking the best of him. It's not that he couldn't believe the fire mage wanted to settle down with Bunny Girl and claim her for good. No, that part he could understand perfectly. The problem was trying to picture the _loud, destructive, I-can't-lie-for-shit_ fire idiot actually keeping a secret for so long, or actually being that _careful, methodical_, and _caring_ in his planning. True, it shouldn't really surprise him that much though. It's not like he hadn't noticed Natsu was extremely protective of the girl, or how he acted like a tamed puppy around her, but Gajeel still had a hard time imagining him covering up his tracks so well that no one had caught up on it, not even his cat.

"Too many. If I said over thirty, would you just take my word for it and avoid wasting your time?" the pink-haired man said, and without expecting an answer he continued, "It would be best if you just go with whatever you think the necklace should look like. Isn't that what that ability of yours is for, anyways?" Gajeel stared at him wide-eyed. Once again, the fire-breathing idiot had proved not to be a total idiot. "Tch, guess you're right. I don't think I could take more than three salesmen trying to force me into buying something anyways," he nonchalantly replied. He was still, however, rather shocked that Natsu had _willingly_ put himself through several train rides from Hell to look for rings. He knew the latter had to be the case, since there were only two jewelry shops in Magnolia. _Blessed were the days when I was oblivious of the effects of dragon-slayer motion sickness, _he momentarily sidetracked_. _Apparently, he had misjudged the fire dragon-slayer's determination, but he had to admit he would have done the same for his girl. Perhaps, the two had more in common that he had originally thought.

After another brief pause, Gajeel broke the silence again. "I… I overheard her talk to Bunny Girl about receiving some old piece of jewelry from her family a few days ago. I wanted to make a necklace that could hold whatever it was she got, so she could wear it every day," the iron mage confessed.

Natsu would be lying if he said he hadn't been surprised by Gajeel's admission. Entertaining the idea that the iron dragon-slayer had a considerate and loving side to him seemed entirely foreign to the fire mage – his cat excluded. Then again, who would've guessed _he_ had one too before he met Lucy? The fire dragon-slayer didn't need Lucy to point out to him the growing tension between his two guildmates, the attraction was so obviously, painfully there. Aside from their awkward stuttering and blatant blushing whenever they were around each other, as a dragon-slayer, Natsu could smell Levy's pheromones whenever Gajeel approached her, and he could sense Gajeel's testosterone oozing out whenever another male came close to the girl – whether the iron mage was aware of it or not. For a second, Natsu wondered if that had also been the case with him and Lucy. In fact, now that he thought about it, he noticed Gajeel's actions resembled his own before he had dared to claim his mate a lot._  
_

Natsu was a creature guided by impulse and instinct, he was passionate, fierce, noble, ...wild. _Untamable_… until _she_ came along. Lucy complemented him in every possible way, personally and magically; that was the reason why they made such a good team. The blond never tried to restrain him, but she possessed an almost mystifying power that never failed to calm him down. Her sleeping body next to his guaranteed him the most peaceful rest at night; and waking up with her form tangled with his own fueled him with the most vibrant of energies to face the upcoming day. No one understood him better that she did, and he wondered why it had taken him so long to stop fighting something that had always felt so natural. But now that he sat across from the uncharacteristically fidgeting iron dragon-slayer, he recognized it. Levy did for Gajeel what Lucy did for him, and he couldn't help but smile at the realization. They both brought the best out of each other, they were comfortable with yelling at each other's face when needed, and they worked well as a team. Heck, the iron dragon-slayer was as secretly protective of the script mage as he was openly protective of his stellar mage. _We really aren't that different after all._

Natsu chuckled and looked at him, "Gajeel, a sucker for romance? Who would've thought?" The iron mage was about to turn his left arm into an iron sword and blast the idiot out of his house and forget he ever asked for help in the first place, when he heard the fire mage finished his sentence "…Man, _we_ are so whipped." Realization hit him like a bucket of ice-cold water. This idiot was really not that much of an idiot at all. The amused look that now adorned both mages' faces told them everything that needed to be said to one another. Unlike their mates, they didn't read books and novels, but they were proficient at reading people. Gajeel smirked, "Gi hee! That we are Salamander!"

After a few more minutes of laughter and talking about Gajeel's "Hall of Fame," Natsu brought the conversation back to its original subject, "Say, Gajeel, Levy doesn't like to wear a lot of jewelry, so I think the necklace should be simple and not too… extravagant."

"'Extravagant'? Seriously? You're spending too much time with the Bunny Girl. At this rate, we'll have an obnoxiously loud, weird-clothed blond brawler and a pink-haired, second-rate backup dancer at Fairy Tail in no time," Gajeel finished his taunting comment with a matching mocking smirk.

"You really think I'd let _my_ woman walk around in one of _my_ old vests _anywhere_ outside _my_ bedroom?" the pink-haired man replied amusedly with his own proud grin. _Fuck, does Lucy look sexy in my clothes. No fucking way I'd share that image with a-ny-one. _"Besides, you're one to talk, you weird-clothed, 'I'm in dire need of a haircut' Metal-freak. And, yes, I said 'dire', deal with it."

Both mages started laughing again, clearly enjoying the newly found way of making fun of each other. They'd just need to add some kicks and punches to the mix, and it'd be perfect. "Yeah, the Shrimp doesn't wear much. A simple, long chain should do the trick. The problem is finding a way to hold an object I haven't actually seen up close." Gajeel said, once he was done laughing.

"Wouldn't a simple hook kinda do the job?" The fire mage said, now completely serious. He watched as the other dragon-slayer straightened himself in the couch and turn to look at him with an "I can't believe I didn't think of that before" look. "You know something, Salamander, you're not as big of an idiot as you pretend to be," Gajeel said, as he stood up from his seat. "Wait here," he continued, as he walked into what Natsu assumed to be the bedroom. A few seconds later, the mage came back out with a small bag in his hands. "Here," he said, tossing the bag towards the fire mage, "start warming them up." Natsu caught the small purse, entertained by the mage's sudden return to a more typically Gajeel-like demeanor.

It didn't take Natsu long to melt the coins completely, Gajeel had gotten him a small copper pot to drop the coins in earlier, which facilitated the job due to metal being a heat conductor. The iron dragon-slayer had been intently staring at the golden liquid as it moved around the pot, when he finally said, "Let's get to work."

* * *

Lucy stared at the sleeping cat on her pillow; it hadn't been that long since the Exceed had come back to her apartment feeling kind of down. She smiled as the little creature turned to its side; Happy could be really annoying when he wanted to, but he could also be the most caring of friends. Sometimes, she forgot he was just a little kid who needed extra pampering once in a while. She tugged herself into bed as well, bringing the furry cat closer and hoping their little pep talk earlier had helped her blue friend.

* * *

Both dragon-slayers stared proudly at the object in front of them. Apparently, they worked well together outside of the battlefield as well. Natsu's extremely hot fire had melted the coins in minutes, and they used that time to discuss how to shape Levy's necklace. It had taken a focused Gajeel and his pink-haired assistant close to three hours to mold to perfection a delicate golden chain that resembled intertwining vines. The design was simple but elegant, and the complex interconnecting set of chains made the piece uniquely the dragon-slayer's. The seven-laced chains melted together at one point to form a vine leaf, and underneath the leaf, Gajeel had placed the small hook that was meant to hold Levy's family heirloom; that way, the hook would be concealed and her jewelry would blend naturally into the necklace. They were definitely proud.

"She'll love it." The fire mage finally said, breaking their self-praising silence. Gajeel smirked, "I think so, too," he whispered, as he continued to eye his new creation. A few moments later, he placed the necklace inside a white carton box and took it into his bedroom. Natsu waited for him to come back, sitting in the same spot and sincerely happy at the turn of events. _Guess I could call Metal-face a 'friend' now_, he smiled.

Gajeel came back into the room and startled the fire dragon-slayer who seemed strangely, or idiotically, happy about something. "So, Salamander," he said rather loudly, successfully gaining said mage's attention, "what's this ring we're making gonna look like?" The iron mage watched his guildmate's expression change at the mention of the circular object. At that moment, that Natsuesque smile of his made its presence into the room, adorning the fire dragon-slayer's face, where it stayed for the rest of the night.

"You'll see."

* * *

_So, how was it? _

Next chapter we'll see the boys interacting with their mates - the proposal and the confession. I've already started writing this chapter, so there's a chance it'll be up faster than chapter 2 was. I'm still brainstorming about the Gajeel and Levy scene, but the Natsu and Lucy one is almost all pictured in my head and partially written.

And, in case you're wondering, Natsu's "unbelievably cute and adorable" underwear is making a second appearance. I just LOVE to imagine a half-naked Natsu for some (pervy) reason.


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone!  
Once again, thanks to all of you who reviewed, faved, and alerted the story. I love reading your reviews and knowing that you are liking the story. To those of you I can't pm:  
_Derrick - _I love Sitri Mira, too. I think her strongest Take-over is badass, and I had to make some mention of it. Glad that you liked that part.  
_Betta Fische - I_ hope there is enough fluff in this chapter for your liking. You'll probably hate me for cutting it off when I did, but I promise there will be more on chapter 4.  
_Shadow & __Olly_ - Thanks for your all your enthusiastic love. I hoe you like chapter 3 too.

I've gone back to chapter 2 and fixed some typos I missed last time.  
This chapter kind of wrote itself. Levy is finally making her debut, the two dragon-slayers are ready to make their moves, and Happy is back to his cheerful self and causing mischief again.

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 3:

Natsu entered Lucy's apartment looking for his furry friend. He hadn't seen Happy at home when he returned from Gajeel's that morning, and he had worried for a moment. He assumed the blue cat would have preferred to stay with Lucy than to wait for him at their house, Lucy's was like their second home anyways, and that's why he had rapidly taken a shower and changed his clothes before heading to the apartment on Strawberry Street himself. Besides, he couldn't wait to see his mate either; he had some words he needed to get off his chest. _Finally._

Both dragon-slayers had stayed up all night working on Lucy's ring. In fact, they were still working on it this morning, since they had to use their very intimidating gazes to persuade one of Magnolia's jewelers to sell them a raw diamond. Natsu preferred the unpolished stone better, and once they had convinced – or threatened, but who cared to correct him – the storeowner to sell them one of his best pieces, Gajeel had taken out the ring and secured the stone in place. The jeweler gawked at the iron mage's handiwork, "Did you make that ring, young man? It is absolutely stunning." The iron dragon-slayer turned to look at the elder, "That I did," he stated with pride, "but the cocky pink-haired idiot over there designed it," he concluded, as he pointed to a smugly smirking Natsu, who was resting his body on one of the store's white walls. _See, I knew I had good taste, _Natsu mentally complimented himself_. _

The storeowner now redirected his gaze towards the fire mage, "I think I remember you. It is for your mage girlfriend, right?" Natsu scowled, he hated the word "girlfriend" when applied to his relationship. What he had with Lucy was much more serious and long-lasting, "girlfriend" barely even began to describe it. Furthermore, the word only spoke of common human interactions, and, although he had no problem with the way most humans related to one another, he was damn proud of his dragon background. Igneel would always be his father, blood related or not. Being the son of a dragon comprised an important part of who he was, and dragons didn't doubt or have fleeting flings, they were determinate and had long-term commitments. Lucy was not his _girlfriend;_ she was his _mate_.

Natsu would have preferred not to answer the nosy salesman's question; Magnolia was a small town and word spread quickly. However, he knew it would be stupid to deny it. "It is," he finally answered, not caring to correct the man for calling Lucy his girlfriend, and never dropping his menacing tone or his intense glare that, if anything, only intensified as he spoke, "and I'd appreciate it if you would keep this to yourself, old man. I _really_ don't want anyone finding out before she does, or even worse, anyone _sharing_ the information before I get I chance to tell her myself. I don't know what I might do if that happens…" The jeweler gulped; that kid had the most terrifying stare he had ever seen, and he had no intention of experiencing firsthand what "The Salamander of Fairy Tail" could do. He had heard and read enough to take the dragon-slayer's threat seriously, "N-No Wo-worries, yo-your secret is sa-sa-safe with me."

Gajeel watched the scene amusedly. He had never seen this side of the fire mage before, but he decided right then and there he would just _have_ to take this other Natsu out to town for a night of fun one day. Lilly had accompanied him on a few occasions, but Gajeel knew the cat didn't find the activity as entertaining as he did. However, that look the other dragon-slayer had right now as he watched the jeweler quivering in fear told Gajeel everything he needed to know. _That pink-haired bastard is enjoying this, gi hee!_

* * *

When Natsu entered the apartment, he found Happy still sleeping soundly on Lucy's bed. He decided against waking him up, and instead made his way to where the heavenly smell of Lucy's French toast was coming from – the kitchen.

He found his mate already waiting for him, standing next to the kitchen's table that was set for three. Natsu wasted no time in getting her into his arms and kissed her deeply. He was in an unbelievably good mood this morning and his emotions overflowed into his lovemaking actions, making his burning kiss aggressive, lustful, and passionate from the moment his lips touched hers. They broke apart shortly after, both panting from the intense exchange. "I can see you had a good night," Lucy said, once she had steadied her breathing. The fire mage grinned, "Good morning to you, too. And, yes, I did."

He sat down on one of the chairs and pulled the stellar mage with him and onto his lap, still not ready to let go. "Happy slept here last night?", he asked.

Lucy nodded, "He did. In fact, he came back to my apartment last night to ask me if I knew why you and Gajeel were hanging out lately." Natsu was still looking at her, trying to keep his emotions in check. This woman could read him to perfection, and he couldn't let his expressions betray him at such a critical moment. "Really?", he asked, raising a quizzical brow, but keeping his smile. The blond giggled, "Yes, apparently, since I'm _the queen of the weirdos_, I'm supposed to know why others are acting weirdly, too." The dragon-slayer could tell the girl was actually amused by the entire situation, and that helped him relax. Now, he just needed to know what she had told his furry friend. "So, what did you tell him?", he asked, grinning slightly.

Lucy moved into a more comfortable position on the fire mage's lap, straddling him so she could look him straightly in the eye. "I told him the truth," she said, playing with the locks of pink hair on the nape of Natsu's head. "And that is…?", he pressed further, softly caressing her waist and enjoying her playing with his hair. "That you and Gajeel are better friends that you let on," came her soft reply. The dragon-slayer laughed, _She really does know me better than anyone else, myself included. _

Knowing his secret was still safe, Natsu felt ready to rekindle the fire from their previous make out session. However, before he could capture her lips once more, Lucy stopped him, placing a steady finger on his own lips, "Just talk to him, Natsu. He's lonely." As Natsu nodded his agreement, said little animal flew into the kitchen screaming a joyous "French toast!", which made both mages turn to look at him and greet him with a smile, "Good morning, Happy." The trio then sat down to eat their breakfast and enjoy their morning together.

Almost instantaneously after finishing his breakfast, Happy burst out of his chair and flew into Lucy's bosom. The amused blond wrapped her arms around the little blue fur ball and petted his little head. "Thanks, Lucy. That was the best! Almost as good as fish," she heard him say in a muffled voice. She giggled, "You're welcome, Happy." However, the Exceed barely enjoyed the embrace, since just as he heard the stellar mage's words leaving her mouth, he felt the telltale warmer hands of his foster father removing him from one of his favorite places in all of Earthland.

"Oh no, Happy, after that stunt you pulled the other day at the guild, there's no way you're getting anywhere near that special place," Natsu told the blue cat with a fake serious expression. _Be strong, Natsu! You can do this!_

"But Natsuuuu~!", Happy whined, trying to free himself from the fire mage's hold, now wearing what Lucy could clearly identify as a knowingly mischievous smile.

"No buts, fury traitor," Natsu countered, maintaining his serious façade and tightening his hold on the cat to prevent him from flying away. "You know what you did. Do you know how long is going to take me to repair the damage you caused?", the fire mage continued, trying to get his point across to the blue hairball he had for a son, and who seemed to absolutely not care one bit about the entire situation.

Lucy, who had been watching the two partners' exchange amusedly, decided to interrupt, "What exactly did he do, Natsu?" The dragon-slayer turned his attention to the stellar mage for a moment and then returned it to the Exceed in his hands, "Why don't _you_ tell her, Happy?"

Lucy watched as the little creature turned to look at her with one of the most sinister smiles she had ever seen on him yet, "When you sent me to get Natsu for our mission the other day, I told the guild you refused to do his laundry, even if his flame underwear was 'adorably and ridiculously cute.' Aye!", Happy stated proudly. The stellar mage _tried_ really hard to contain her laughter, especially when she saw the dragon-slayer getting embarrassed all over again. _So that's why he was giving his laundry bag those dirty looks. _She tried, but failed. Lucy let little sounds of laugher escape her mouth, which made Happy guffaw with pleasure, reveling in the further embarrassment of his foster father.

"Lucy!", Natsu whined. "You're supposed to be on my side!", he said, as he adopted one of his more childish personas. The blond only laughed harder. "I'm sorry, Natsu, but it's true. Your underwear is _adorably_ and _ridiculously_ cute," she managed to say between laughs. Happy felt the fire mage's hands relax as he redirected his attention to his life partner who continued to laugh. Taking this opportunity, he freed himself from the loosened embrace. He immediately activated his Aera and flew out of the dragon-slayer's reach. "I'm going to the guild to look for Charle and eat some fish while you cool off Natsu, see you later," he yelled, as he disappeared into Lucy's room.

Lucy's face suddenly got serious again. "Don't you dare take one of my ribbons again, you damned cat!", Happy heard Lucy yell as he made his way towards her window. "Too late," he replied as he flew out of there as fast as he could, grinning manically. His day had started so well today.

Back at the apartment, a pouting dragon-slayer stared at the giggling blond. "Do you know what Happy's comment did to my reputation, Lucy? I'm supposed to be fucking manly, respected, feared! I'm Fairy Tail's Salamander, salamanders aren't cute. I'm the freaking son of a dragon for Mavis's sake, I can't be cute!" Natsu insisted. The stellar mage continued to laugh at the dragon-slayer's tantrum, "Yes, yes, Elfman, whatever you say," she taunted. _Male egos_, she thought as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious, Lucy! You _do_ know that if Happy tells that Ice-freak, he's never, _ever_, going to let it go, right?" _And my day had start so well, _Natsu sighted,_ Thanks a lot, Happy!_

Lucy locked eyes with him and approached him, "But they _are_ cute and adorable, fire dragon-slayer Natsu Dragneel," she said, in what Natsu recognized as a rather seducing tone. The stellar mage caressed his clothed chest, making her way down his body. When she reached his hips, she slid her hand through the fire mage's pants, letting her fingers play teasingly as they hung from his underwear's elastic band and moved from side to side, "And you know what?" she continued, "I _absolutely_ love them."

The dragon-slayer growled, and wasted no time in lifting the girl up and carrying her back into her room, full grin back into his face. _And it is looking up again! Have I thanked that devious cat yet? Extra-chubby fish for Happy!_

* * *

Happy flew into the guild and went straightly to Mira's bar. He needed to stack on his fish supply fast, before Natsu had a chance to warn everyone about his so-called "punishment." He knew the dragon-slayer wouldn't be too hard on him; being "tough" on his own son was practically impossible for his foster father, and Happy knew this way too well. When he thought about Natsu starting a family of his own, he was sure that if it weren't for Lucy, their children would be the most spoiled kids ever… _Kind of like me, _he chuckled. As things stood right now, he was looking at a maximum of one week of having to smuggle contraband fish from the guild and of snuggling on Lucy's chest when the fire mage wasn't looking. He grinned; Mira would definitely help him, and Lucy would find the entire thing amusing. _Hee, hee, I win!_

"You're in a rather good mood today, Happy. I'm glad to see you're back to your old self," the beautiful bartender greeted him.

"Aye! I managed to annoy both Natsu and Lucy this morning!", Happy replied, without ever losing his joyful smile as he played with the blue ribbon he had stolen just minutes ago. Mira watched him amusedly, "So, I guess you're not upset about yesterday anymore?" The blue feline sat down on the bar's counter shaking his head, "Nope, I talked to Lucy last night and she explained the situation to me." The eldest Take-over sibling was elated, she could _finally_ get some Intel on the Gajeel-Natsu mystery! "So, what is it?", she avidly asked the Exceed, eyes shinning with excitement. Happy looked up at her, "Lucy said Gajeel and Natsu are good friends, but they would rather die a thousand social and physical deaths before accepting it."

Mira stared back at the cat that, true to his name, was glowing with happiness. Lucy had a point, perhaps she had blown the entire episode out of proportion, perhaps the two dragon-slayers talking to each other wasn't such a big deal after all, perhaps she should apologize to Gajeel. At that moment, a flashback of the iron dragon-slayer's mocking smirk played in her mind… _Perhaps not_... _He's just lucky I love my job._

* * *

Gajeel left the guild cursing under his breath as an oblivious blue fur ball almost crashed onto his face as it passed through the doors. _Fucking cat is too fucking… happy._ He scowled at his lack of vocabulary to describe the flying cat. _Fucking Salamander, couldn't you name your cat with a less common word? _

He should've tried to find Levy's scent before even entering the mad chaos that was known as Fairy Tail that morning. Apparently, the Rain Woman had gotten carried away with her emotions when she saw that her Gray-sama was feeling better from the injuries he got on his last mission (albeit not knowing most of them had been caused by one of his teammates). She had at least been crying non-stop tears of joy for fifteen minutes straight, getting a vast majority of the guild's floor wet. The Ice-princess, trying to escape the water mage's rather suffocating affection, had slipped when he accidentally stepped onto one of the little puddles of tears. He landed on Erza, who was about to eat a piece of cake, which, as a result of their collision, had ended up crashing unceremoniously onto the floor. It was safe to say that if it had not been for another of those little puddles of tears, Gray would had probably needed surgery to recover from the Requip mage's ensuing anger. Upon standing up, the redhead had slipped too and knocked herself out with one of the tables. When Gajeel came into the guild, two unconscious bodies were lying on the guildhall's floor, and he knew the moment the red-haired demon awoke from her slumber things weren't going to be pretty. It took him five seconds to figure out what had happened, and in the process of doing that, he had realized the person he was looking for hadn't arrived yet. With no incentive to stay, and at least two possible ones that guaranteed him a beating – those being a still pissed-off Mira, who had given him an ugly scowl when he came in, and the soon to wreak havoc Titania –, he opted to leave Fairy Tail and go find his little solid script mage instead.

Gajeel found the person he was searching for coming out of Magnolia's biggest bookstore thirty minutes after he had left Fairy Tail. He had already checked Fairy Hills and the girl hadn't been there. For a second, he feared that he had missed her on her way to the guild and he would be forced to go back there. Fretting the possibility of having to deal with two female demons, he had decided to walk around town and check some of the other places the script mage frequented before returning to Fairy Tail. He was glad he did, telling himself it had been his superb instinct what had led him to avoid the guild and not his latent fear for the two female mages suffering from possible psychotic rage.

Levy was just leaving the store with a small bag on her left hand and a big smile on her face. "Thanks Mr. Daisuke, I really appreciate you getting this for me," he heard her say, as she closed the door behind her and exited the place. He took in her appearance. She was wearing her usual mid-thigh, yellow dress with the white linings and bow at the front. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun, and a wrapped white bandana finished the look. He particularly loved when she wore this type of dresses; they emphasized all of the rights spots of her beautiful body, in a feminine yet childish sort of way. Gajeel took a deep breath as he approached the script mage. It was now or never. _Common, Gajeel, you can do this, you can do this, you can d…_

"Gajeel?" He heard a sweet voice cut through his mental monologue. "Gajeel? Are you okay?" the voice repeated. The iron dragon-slayer's focus switched entirely to the blue-haired girl that was now in front of him and staring sternly at him. _When did she get so close?_

"Yeah, I'm fine," he finally replied, as his red eyes met his soon-to-be-mate's brown orbs. Levy's gaze, however, remained questioning, still doubting his words, "Are you sure? I mean, it's rare to find you in this part of town at this hour, and it is really not like you to be so distracted." The dragon-slayer smiled at her as he moved his right hand to pat her head, "Yeah, yeah, as I said, I'm fine, Shrimp," he tauntingly said, "Were you worried about me?" The girl seemed rather annoyed by the male's usual way of teasing her, but she didn't move out of his reach. "Whatever, Gajeel," she countered, "What are you doing here then?" The iron mage knew the girl always put up with his particular – or rather irritating – way of showing affection. He had, at first, wondered how long it would take her to yell for him to stop, or force him to do so, but that day had never come. Now, he simply suspected she probably enjoyed his awkward ministrations. Hell, he enjoyed them too. His big, calloused hands on her soft head reminded him of how small and delicate she was, of how much he _wanted_ to protect her; and this form of contact was better than no contact at all. He took a step closer towards her, "I was actually looking for you, Shorty. Would you mind going somewhere with me?" he asked in a soft voice. Gajeel watched as the girl's eyes momentarily widened in shock at his rather uncharacteristic tone, but they quickly reverted back to its original size as she replied, "Sure, lead the way."

* * *

Lucy watched the frantic form of the fire dragon-slayer move around her apartment. He was trying to find something amidst the mess they had just made of her room, while she amusedly stared at the underwear he was wearing that day – black boxer-briefs with a flying red dragons print. Wrapping herself in one of her sheets, she chuckled,_ Cute._

She heard the mage scream a joyous "Aha! Found you!", successfully bringing her out of her reverie. Shortly after, the object of her thoughts came crashing back into bed, dragging her with him and pulling her onto his lap. Trying to figure out where this boy got all his energy from proved to be an impossible task. It baffled her, she would never understand. Then again, he wasn't a normal guy, and if she had to use one word to describe him, it would be "wild;" and "wild" didn't do "calmed," or "relaxed," "wild" was necessarily "restless."

She giggled, "You're crazy, you know that, right?" She fixed her gaze on the dragon-slayer's and moved her hands to play with his pink locks of hair again. She loved the feeling of his soft tresses flowing through her fingers. Natsu cupped Lucy's cheek with his left hand and smiled as she leaned into it, "I know, and I love every second of it. But what I love even more is that _you_ _are crazy with me_." The girl smiled back, "Of course, I couldn't let you have all the fun, now could I?", she said, mimicking the soft yet serious tone the fire mage was using. "And you know I'd rather be next to you than anywhere else, Natsu, so that automatically labels me insane, since who in their right mind would purposely want to do that?"

The dragon-slayer let a light chuckle leave his mouth. "Forever, Lucy?" he asked after a brief silence, "Would you run mad with me forever?"

* * *

The iron dragon-slayer had taken Levy to a rarely transited area of Magnolia's park. They were sitting at one of the wooden benches, farther away from each other than he would've liked. The walk there had been somewhat awkward, and the little conversation they had had on the way, had revolved around his fury black partner who had been sick for the past week and staying at Fairy Hills with Wendy.

"So, why are we here, Gajeel?" Levy asked, tired of the awkward silence that had invaded the two mages' space since they had left the bookstore. She liked the iron mage, too much for her own good, probably; and today she didn't feel like dealing with her conflicted emotions. Gajeel was somewhat of a mystery to her, she never knew what to expect from him. Sometimes, he went out of his way to make her feel like she was the only girl in the world to those red eyes of him, like every time he chose to tease her, in which his full attention rested on her and she could distinguish a small flickering light in his eyes that was usually not there. But other times, it was like she didn't exist at all, and not only did he avoid her completely, but he also barely directed one glance towards her, even if he knew she was close by.

How she had found herself in this emotional turmoil was also a mystery to her. She had always been proud to call herself a rational person, thinking and analyzing through every situation she faced in order to find the best solution. She blamed Gajeel and his secretive ways and trust issues for the mess she currently liked to call herself. It is not like she hadn't made it clear that she was interested in him, or at least that's what she thought. She couldn't remember how many words she had wasted talking to Lucy about it, not only was she her best friend but she was also a dragon-slayer's mate. If anyone could understand what she was going through, it was Lucy. However, the stellar mage would always give her the same reply with a sympathetic smile, "You'll figure it out soon, Levy-chan." Whatever that meant! Between Gajeel's mixed signals and Lucy's cryptic answers, Levy remained confused. Strangely, she felt so _comfortable_ whenever she was with the iron dragon-slayer, like it was just _natural_ for her to be by his side, but she also feared just how _intense_ those feelings could get. Sometimes, her emotions got the best of her, and she showed more interest than she was willing to display without any confirmation on his part. However, she was glad for those moments of weakness, where she would scream or hug the deadlights out of the idiotic iron mage; they were better than no interactions at all.

"Levy, I…" Gajeel began. The script mage just waited, somewhat shocked that he had called her by her first name and not one of the many nicknames he had for her. In a way, she felt like it didn't fit him to call her "Levy," but, then again, she did like how her name sounded when it came out of his mouth. _I'm such a contradiction sometimes._

Levy watched as the iron dragon-slayer fidgeted uncomfortably on the park's bench. Something was bothering him, but she couldn't figure out what. He combed his unruly hair with his left hand as he turned back to look at her with newfound determination. "Yes… Gajeel, what's goi…"

The dragon-slayer didn't let her finish, "Ah, fuck this!", he yelled frustrated. "It's simple, I like you, I've had for a while, and I can't keep it to myself anymore," he said, as he slid himself along the wooden bench, getting closer to her and enveloping her with his arms. "I want you to let me claim you as my mate," he finished stating, his face inches away from hers, and never breaking eye contact. With those last words, he closed the gap between them, bringing his raspy lips to touch her soft ones for the fist time. The solid script mage had expected anything to happen when she woke up that morning, anything except for this. She, however, recuperated from her shock quickly, embracing the dragon-slayer as she buried her fingers in his unruly mane, and returned his kiss with a passion she didn't know she possessed. The kiss was rash and wild, their tongues dancing with each other fiercely and harmoniously. It was a tango where neither side dominated, both playing on an equal plane of fast and arousing movements that brought each other to experience emotions with an intensity they had never felt before.

It felt like heaven, and the iron mage berated himself for taking so long in acting on what his instincts had told him an innumerable amount of times before. The girl fitted so perfectly in his arms, and she had responded in such synchronicity, that he wondered just how he could have ever believed that things wouldn't turn out this way. He must be the most stupid idiot out there to not have realized sooner that this girl was meant to be _his_ and _only_ his, and judging from her reaction, she seemed to agree with him.

They broke away due to that accursed need for air, but neither loosened the embrace they had locked each other in. Gajeel rested his forehead on Levy's, "So, what do you say? Will you let me claim you?", he whispered to her, still breathing heavily.

Levy giggled, "Isn't it obvious, idiot? If I didn't want to be yours, I wouldn't have let you kiss me like that." The iron dragon-slayer growled, as he lifted the petite girl and placed her on his lap, reveling on the close contact and not planning on letting go any time soon. He nuzzled the bluenette's neck, taking in her scent at his leisure, and finding himself lost in it. He felt at home, and for a moment, an image of the Salamander cuddling with the Bunny Girl came to mind. _I must look as pathetic as that idiot does whenever he's close to her… But I can't say I mind it at all... And I can't say I wouldn't like to see the Shrimp in some of my over-stretched t-shirts either. Gi hee!_

Thinking about the fire dragon-slayer made him remember why he was here in the first place. Yes, the plan was to get Levy to agree to be his mate – _Check –,_ _after_ he had given her the necklace he had made for her – _No check –_. Well, he was never a man who followed the rules, or who liked to do things in order, for that matter. Gajeel took one of his hands away from her hips and lifted himself up from the bench so he could get the jewelry out of his pant's side pocket.

The movement startled the girl sitting oh-so-comfortably on top of him, "Gajeel?" she muttered.

"Just give me a second, Shrimp," the iron mage replied. Levy straightened herself to give the dragon-slayer more room to move, watching him intently as he pulled a white box out of his pocket. She gasped as he placed a beautiful golden chain in her hands, tossing the box somewhere behind him, "I made this for you, Levy."

* * *

So, what do you all think?

I know some of you might want to kill me for cutting things when I did, especially the Natsu and Lucy scene, but I promise next chapter will have the mates' reactions and a full description of Lucy's ring.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! As always, thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, and alerted. I know you might get tired of reading it, but I don't get tired of saying it. Your reviews really make my day and inspire me to keep writing. I'm sorry this chapter took longer than usual to publish, but I had a hard time with the girls' reactions. I hope the end product is worth the wait, though.

_Betta Fische - _Sorry! I knew I was setting myself up for that one when I ended chapter 3 where I did, but it was necessary. Anyways, this chapter has more fluffy moments just for you. And thanks for all of your encouragement.  
_Shadow - _I'm glad you enjoyed "Dark Natsu," I had a great time writing that scene, especially because I kept thinking about what it would be like if Gajeel and Natsu did in fact went out to intimidate (terrorize) people just for fun. If you liked that, I'm sure you'll enjoy one of the scenes I have planned for the upcoming chapter(s).

Longest chapter yet. Actually, each chapter is longer than the previous one, lol. So finally the boys wait while their mates get their thoughts together and give their answers, and Happy is reading himself for his upcoming "war for fish" against Natsu and waiting for a certain ice mage to come back to life.

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 4:

Although she had been sitting comfortably on the iron mage's lap for a while now, Levy was still having a hard time coming to terms with everything that had happened in the last hour. Regaining her thoughts after the passionate kiss the two mages had shared, she couldn't believe that just a few moments ago the iron dragon-slayer had managed to dissipate all her wariness and confusion with a few simple words. She couldn't believe her body had reacted so rapidly either. But they weren't just _any_ words, they were _the_ words she had been waiting to hear for so long; and they weren't just _simple_ actions, they were _the_ actions she had been fantasizing about for countless months now. She had always had a hard time imagining Gajeel confessing his feelings for her, or her reaction to them for that matter, and that was the reason why her mind was still trying to piece together everything that had just transpired between the two of them. She knew she was probably over-thinking things, but she was still surprised and a little bit wary of that intensity of feeling that had taken over her again when Gajeel touched her. The beautiful gold necklace that currently lay in her hands only distracted her further. It should have felt out of character for him to do something like this, but, deep down, something told Levy that it wasn't strange if he did it for _her_. She needed to clarify her feelings and she needed to give the iron mage an answer, but she couldn't bring herself to speak.

The dragon-slayer watched the script mage on his lap as she inspected the necklace, looking like she was lost in thought. He could tell that something was troubling her and that she was struggling to find her words. So, in order to ease her mind, he decided to speak for her, "I made this for you, Levy," he awkwardly began. He then paused for a moment, realizing that _showing_ her what he wanted to say was so much easier than _telling_ her, for some weird, or otherwise unknown reason. "Actually, …do you have that thing you got from your family a few days ago?" he asked. The blue-haired girl looked at him quizzically, and after receiving a reassuring nod from the dragon-slayer, she stretched to reach for her handbag that had been left forgotten and unattended the second the iron mage had pulled her onto his lap. She opened it, taking something out of it and placing the removed object in his hands just moments later, while she still refrained from speaking altogether. _Apparently, I'm not the only one fighting with words, _he observed.

After all those days of checking up – or spying – on her, Gajeel would finally see what Levy's family heirloom looked like; that object she spoke so proudly of and was so careful with. He was surprised to find it was an old, oval-shaped, gold pocket watch. He could tell time hadn't treated it too nicely, it had a few scratches here and there, and the front cover was missing. However, it still worked perfectly, the second hand moving with precision as it made its way around the clock face, indicating with exactitude the time of day. Gajeel returned his gaze to Levy, who was still staring, as if hypnotized, at the necklace she held in her hands. He grabbed her hands and enveloped them in his. His loving action managed to get her attention, forcing her to look up and meet his intense red eyes once more. After staring into each other's eyes for what seemed like ages, the script mage regained her courage and decided it was her turn to break the silence. "It belonged to my grandfather," she softly said, "He was the first in his family to pursue wizardry professionally, and he bought this watch with the jewels he earned in his first mission. He was very proud of it and when he retired from the magic world, he gave it to my father. My father stopped practicing magic six months ago and, since I'm his only daughter, he sent me the watch two weeks ago."

Gajeel listened to her explanation attentively, smiling gently at her when she finished. This being, most probably, the first time an expression such as this one had graced his rough face. "May I?" he said, as he silently asked for Levy to give him the gold necklace. She nodded, placing the object in his hands. He began, "As I said, I made this for you, or for your watch, to be more precise. I overheard you telling Bunny Girl how happy you were to have received it from your family, and I wanted to make something for you, so you could have it, whatever it was, close to your heart, always."

For a moment, the iron dragon-slayer felt like he was the biggest pansy in Earthland. Who was this person saying this sort of things? Could it really be him? Throughout his life, he had prided himself for being tough and imposing, someone no one would ever want to mess with, someone who inspired fear and respect. He glimpsed at the tiny bluenette resting on top of him again. As her eyes caught his, he instantly remembered what was really important. He wasn't weak, and telling her she cared wasn't a weakness either. In fact, the girl made him strong, he inspired him to become a better man and a more powerful mage, but not for the sake of being feared or imposing alone, but so that he could better protect what really mattered to him: his friends, his guild, his partner… his mate. _I can only be like this with you, Levy. I need you to succeed in the life I've chosen for myself, and I want to walk down this road with you by my side. _

Gajeel smiled once more. He took the necklace and secured the watch onto it with the hook behind the vine leaf. He couldn't have planned it better; the gold leaf would serve as a protective cover for the watch's fragile glass – _his_ necklace would protect _her_ treasure, his _hands_ would protect her _legacy_. He placed the necklace in her hands again and kissing them lightly, he softly said, "There, now it's truly finished."

Levy didn't wait for him to complete his sentence and threw herself at him, encasing him in a tight hug. "Thank you, Gajeel, it is absolutely beautiful," she said between sobs, "No one has ever done anything this nice for me before." The iron mage returned the embrace and as he squeezed her petite form, he whispered into her ear, "Anything for you, Shrimp, but _only_ for you."

All of the fear and hesitation Levy had retained until then disappeared in that moment. Gajeel had just opened up to her completely, allowing her to see him in all of his vulnerability. She had known she was meant to be with the dragon-slayer the second their lips touched, but after he had torn all of his walls down, fully exposing himself to her, she realized that his feelings had _also_ been charged with all that intensity that continued to scare her and that comfortableness that seemed so strangely natural. Levy smiled; she finally understood what Lucy's words had meant. She needed to experience the vivacity of their feelings together in order to understand that what they felt for each other was normal and natural for them. Perhaps a little overwhelming at times, but that was the way dragon-slayers did things; they went to the extreme in everything, there was no middle ground with them. Thus, when they loved another, they loved with every fiber of their beings and; therefore, their beloved could only be someone who could return the gesture and surrender all of herself to them as well. That was why they spoke of claiming a mate and never bothered with dating. Weirdly enough, though, she discovered that this newfound seriousness in their relationship only helped to sooth her down. Gajeel's vulnerability strengthened her, and she realized that her own vulnerability empowered him. She tightened her embrace, her smile widening when she felt the dragon-slayer do the same.

* * *

Lucy was overwhelmed. She felt as if she was watching the entire scene that was taking place in her apartment from a third-party's perspective. She had pictured this moment many times when she was younger. Most girls did, with the well-dressed and proper man kneeling in front of her after a beautiful and romantic evening, saying a truly touching and well-prepared speech while he placed a well-crafted ring on her finger. However, after her mother's death and her father's insistence on having her married for profit, her ideas about marriage and her understanding of what it truly meant to share your life with another person changed. Years later, after her escape from home and meeting Natsu, she came to Fairy Tail, where she gained an entirely new meaning for the word "family." The stellar mage knew perfectly well that once the hyperactive fire dragon-slayer had entered her life, all remaining ideas about idealized romance had been quickly thrown out the window and replaced with a more realistic view on all matters of love.

Lucy couldn't exactly pinpoint the moment when Natsu had found his way into her soul, but now, he was so deeply rooted in there that without him she felt empty, hollow. He formed part of her, a _vital_ part of her. There was no one who understood her as well as he did, or who believed in her more. He gave her courage when all seemed lost and inspiration to keep bettering herself. She felt protected and never alone. She couldn't picture her life without the fire dragon-slayer, ever since she had met him (although it had taken her a long time to accept that fact). He had a strange way of warming her heart when she needed it the most, some mystical power that calmed her down, that guaranteed her that everything would be all right no matter what, and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was a fire mage. Their relationship was far from perfect, even if they had never fought seriously, they still argued sometimes. They both had strong personalities, making it impossible to avoid those little altercations. Furthermore, they were hardly perfect themselves, they could be loud, destructive, annoying, stubborn… but they both _needed_ each other. She deeply believed they had been fated to meet. They complemented one another like nothing she had ever seen or experienced before, it almost felt as if they became a new single being when they were together.

The blond mage looked at the ring on her left hand. She had seen many pieces of jewelry in her life, and she could definitely say that this one wasn't the most exquisite out of the lot, but it was, however, something deserving of its own category altogether. It was both delicate and fierce at the same time, a perfect balance between ornamentation and practicality. But what she loved the most about the piece was that it told their story, and no one else's. It was unique; it belonged to them. Many would look at it and admire its beauty, but very few – if anyone at all – would actually see, or understand, the meaning behind the ring. _Typical of Natsu to go as far as having it custom made._

Even if the stellar mage had pictured thousands of proposals, she had never bothered to consider what one from the dragon-slayer would look like. She knew that nothing she imagined could remotely come close to what that moment would actually be like. She analyzed the situation she was currently in, sitting on top of a disheveled and half-naked Natsu while she herself was messily wrapped around a bed sheet, deciding instantaneously that it definitely qualified as that unimaginable perfect moment. The pink-haired mage was impulsive, and nothing he planned beforehand ever turned out as effective as what he did instinctively. His instincts guided him, and that was part of the reason why it was so impossible to envision a scene such as this one without actually experiencing it. Natsu would just follow his instincts and act on what he had in mind when those instincts told him it was the right time to do so. And he couldn't have found a more perfect moment. She looked at their unarranged selves again, focusing on the man lying beneath her, whose gaze was still locked with hers, his left hand still cupping her surprised cheek, his right still holding her left hand where he had slid the beautiful ring without her even noticing. _Perfectly imperfect, _she concluded, _just like him… like me… like us._

Lucy recognized Natsu was possessive, he wasn't really shy about it, but many would be surprised to learn that so was she. Everyone at the guild knew the sort of man the fire mage was. Natsu lighted up a room when he came in and his contagious grin made anyone's day better. He would always go above and beyond to help a friend; he was naïve and good natured, loyal to a fault, powerful, strong, dedicated, resourceful, and determined. She had no problem sharing that Natsu with all of her guildmates, friends, and anyone else who wanted a piece. The one who was in front of her right now, however, the one who doubted, who feared, who left his self completely and unreservedly exposed, this Natsu belonged _only_ to her. Only she knew the imperfect and unguarded fire dragon-slayer and she would never share that side of her mate with anyone else. That part of him, the part that truly completed him, what made him both fully human and something else entirely at the same time, that part was meant and reserved exclusively for her. No one else would ever see it, and she would die protecting it from anyone who dared to even catch a glimpse of it, let alone attempt to damage or attack it.

"_Forever Lucy? Would you run mad with me forever?"_

Natsu was a man of actions and not of words, but the few words he used were always chosen with care. Lucy knew this wasn't a proposal; it was a pledge. The fire dragon-slayer was pledging himself to her, and she would follow this man to the ends of the world and back. Always.

* * *

Gajeel had been holding Levy in his arms comfortably for what comprised the longest time period he had ever engaged in such an activity in his entire life. He liked it, a lot, and he was getting used to the idea of being part of a sappy love story. As much as he enjoyed it, however, he needed to break the embrace to finish what he had started. He was never a man to leave things unfinished and if he had begun to go down this road, he was damn sure he was going to go all the way. He pulled the script mage away gently. Before she could even protest, he took the necklace and, pointing at the seven intertwining chains, he said, "These represent the seven years I spent alone before I met you after Metalicana disappeared, the seven years I spent frozen next to you at Tenrou, the seven days it took me to decide to make my move, and the seven hours it took me to convince myself of asking for help." He stopped to look at Levy again, whose eyes had been shining brightly with affection and understanding as he spoke. Her expression seemed to change into a puzzled and surprised one towards the end, stunned that he had actually deigned to ask for help. He could see curiosity lingering in her brown eyes, but he could also tell that she was patiently waiting for him to finish saying what he needed to say before she could attack him with questions about it, and probably laugh after hearing his answers. "And, I guess, it now also stands for the seven minutes it took me to claim you as my own," he added, followed by a mocking smirk.

The iron dragon-slayer saw the girl pout in reaction to his last remark. Chuckling, he picked the piece in his hands and put it around her head. As he did this, he heard the blue-haired mage ask, "Gajeel, why vines?" He smirked, he knew nothing would escape this girl; she wouldn't be content until she had everything figured out, and that included every little detail of the necklace that now adorned her neck. "Salamander said vines symbolize growth and life, and that's exactly what I want with you, Shrimp. I want to grow with you and move in whatever direction that may take us. I want to go through life with you by my side," he explained.

Levy listened to every word the iron dragon-slayer said. She didn't need to verbally confirm what both their hearts already knew – that she felt exactly the same way and that she would stand beside Gajeel regardless of where life decided to take them. After a few seconds, the script mage broke out of her initial shock, "Natsu?" she murmured, being the only thing she could bring herself to say at the moment. Gajeel laughed, "Guess being the Bunny Girl's mate has its perks, huh?" The girl on top of him hit his shoulder lightly and lovingly, "That's not what I meant, idiot," she replied, fully regaining her composure. She giggled as she saw the dragon-slayer's expression change into a confused one. She could tell that last bit of information had unintentionally escaped his mouth. He hadn't intended to say that much, at least for now, but his tongue had accidently slipped and told her who it was that Gajeel had needed help from. As much as she wanted to tell him just how much his gesture meant to her and how she also wanted to stay by his side, she couldn't let the rare opportunity to tease him pass her by.

"I knew it!" she said, once her giggling had stopped and been replaced by an amused smile. Gajeel stared at her intently, "Knew what, Shrimp?" he said, as he quirked his left eyebrow. "That you and Natsu are closer than you would like to admit in public," she replied matter-of-factly, her amused expression never faltering. The dragon-slayer gaped surprised; _Shorty understands me more than she'd ought to, gi hee… However, there's no way she's making me say it out loud without being punished for it later. _"Tch, there's no point denying it now. But tell anyone and I'll have to torture you, slowly, _very_ slowly," he finally responded, as his expression changed back into his trademark side grin.

"Oh really?" he heard her say tauntingly, responding to his provocation. The iron mage gazed back at her mischievously, "You bet ya!" he said, as he began to mercilessly tickle the blue-haired script mage and she instantaneously started squirming in his lap and begging him to stop.

Some time later, once the dragon-slayer had contented himself with his vengeful teasing and they had been resting in each other's arms for a while, Levy lifted her head from his shoulder, "Who would have guessed that you, of all people, would be asking Natsu for help." Gajeel fixed his deep red eyes on hers, knowing _exactly_ what to say. _If I'm going down, Salamander is going down with me. _"It's not like I'm the only one who needed a favor, Shorty," he nonchalantly replied, succeeding in further inciting the girl's curiosity. He observed her changing expression, eyes sparkling and burning with desire to know what he was talking about. "I might as well just tell you," he continued, "It's not like the idiot is going to wait much longer anyways. In fact, I'm pretty sure he's getting it done as we speak."

"Yay!" the blue-haired mage chirped, clapping her hands excitedly and moving around his lap until she found a more comfortable sitting position from where she could hear him divulge his secret. She pecked him on the lips one last time before settling down, "Tell me." Gajeel smirked.

* * *

Happy had been talking to Mira for a while. To his dismay, Wendy and Charle were running late today, and, from what he had heard from Juvia, who had regained her composure and stopped crying, it didn't look like they were going to make it into the guild any time soon. Still, he had had a productive morning. He had updated the white-haired barmaid and secured her alliance for his momentary fish war against the fire dragon-slayer. The first part of his mission was complete; he was guaranteed not to starve for the next week. Not that he would have had in the first place, since Natsu wouldn't keep him from eating other forms of food, but a day without fish was a sad day indeed. And being miserable just didn't go well with him; he liked to be in a good mood at all times.

Mira had also explained to Happy what had happened at the guild before he had arrived. The incident had actually discouraged him a little, since it looked like he would have to wait for Gray to regain his consciousness in order to share Natsu's little secret with him. More than that, he would have to wait until _after_ Erza carried out her vengeance on the ice mage for ruining her perfect slice of cake. He would, in fact, really enjoy such a beating, if anyone damaged his fish before he ate it, he would probably do the same. Messing with other people's food was simply unacceptable. The Exceed sighed, lunchtime was getting closer and neither Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, or Charle had showed up at Fairy Tail yet. _Boring. What are they doing anyway? _

Suddenly, Happy heard someone groan and stir on the floor. He rapidly stood up from his spot at the bar and discovered Gray waking up. The ice mage seemed disoriented and it took him a while to stand up and regain his senses. Happy switched his gaze towards the redhead. She was still unmoving. He smirked and, flying to where Gray was now sitting, he said, "Oh, Gray, you're awake! Good. I have something to tell you." The fully recovered black-haired mage looked at the blue Exceed, he was wearing one of those macabre smiles of his. Gray smirked back, "Don't tell me… Natsu?" Happy simply nodded, his grin only getting bigger, "Aye!" _Seems like today is my lucky day! Let's just hope Erza stays out of it until after Natsu arrives._

* * *

Natsu had always thought the ring he envisioned for Lucy was beautiful, but it looked beyond stunning on her finger. It wasn't ostentatious, but it was modestly elegant: two intertwining strings of white gold that resembled two dragon tails coiling together formed the band; the base was made of a thin, white gold layer topped by a small Sakura petal that was coated with a special resin to achieve a hard and durable finish; the raw diamond was placed on top of the treated petal and was held together by the tips of the two dragon tails. The effect the Sakura petal had on the stone when light hit it was breathtaking. Combined with the already reflecting crystal, the iridescent blue, pink, and purple tones of the petal heightened the intensity of the shine and added a whole new diversity of colors to it. It truly was a magnificent sight and the fire dragon-slayer was very grateful to Gajeel and the dedication he had shown while crafting the ring, putting as much effort into it as he had in making Levy's necklace. The iron mage had at first been surprised at the description of the ring Natsu wanted, but he had quickly voiced his approval to the design and intension, smirking and calling the fire mage a "whipped, tamed, little dragon boy." Natsu had only laughed at the comment; it had been established several times already that that was in fact the case, so why bother to deny it.

The ring was everything he had imagined and putting it on his mate's finger had been one of the most exhilarating things he had ever experienced in his life. He had showed up at Lucy's apartment that morning convinced of what he wanted to do, but he hadn't really thought about how exactly he was going to do that, or what he was going to say. He didn't consider himself a romantic person, even if Lucy had told him several times that he was. For him, being romantic was doing all the corny stuff he saw or heard other guys do for girls, like buying flowers, which he hated because the smell was too overpowering for his sensitive nose; paying for candlelight dinners, which he thought dumb, since only an idiot would eat something that he couldn't see and pay more than twice of what it cost to cook it at home; giving small gifts to show affection, which he found useless, if you wanted to show someone that you cared, you simple did; or sending romantic cards with messages like "Giving you all my love," "Thinking of you," "Wish you were here," or "Hugs and kisses," which he considered superfluous, he would rather shower his significant other with kisses, hugs, teases, and caresses instead of wasting his time, and hers, in writing her about it.

Their early morning rendezvous had been a little unexpected and Lucy's actions had caught him off-guard. He would have never thought before that his rather childish underwear – even he had to admit that it was – would lead to a very sexy and intoxicating image of a seducing Lucy. He was sure he would never be able to look at his underwear the same way after today. Not that he was complaining, on the contrary, it would be hard to erase that contented smirk off his face all day. However, as it was typical of him, he had let himself be taken over by his emotions and he had completely forgotten he had the ring in his pants. Later, once his mind had come back down from cloud nine, he had realized his mistake and sprang out of bed to search for it, though not without kissing the stellar mage fully in the mouth and giving her a loving smile first. While he was finishing turning Lucy's apartment upside down, he decided he couldn't wait any longer. There was really no reason to do so and trying to keep the ring out of harm's way would only lead to him getting premature gray hairs, and he was too young for that (and secretly he didn't think they would go well with his pink locks). He had almost had a heart attack when he reached his pants and realized the piece of jewelry wasn't there. Intensifying his search, he found it had fallen out of his pocket on their way to the bedroom. Immediately after he had picked the ring up from the floor, while holding it in his hands and picturing Lucy wearing it, the familiar heartwarming and soothing feeling filled his entire being. That sensation alone convinced him that this was the right moment and sprinting back to bed, he threw himself into his mate's embrace once more.

* * *

"Is that so?" Gray said, openly grinning as he looked at the mischievous blue cat nodding. "Yep, I didn't leave anything out," Happy replied, absolutely elated at the thought of what the ice mage would do with the small piece of information he had just shared with him. The black-haired mage unconsciously stripped off from his shirt and, tossing it somewhere behind him, he added, "You know he's going to kill you for telling me this, right?" The Exceed watched as what looked like Juvia's form pass rapidly behind Gray and snatch his discarded piece of clothing. He smirked, "I know. Technically, he has already decided to 'punish' me, so, I don't really have anything to lose. Besides, Lucy would never let him do that." Gray had to handed it to him, Happy knew how to upset the fire dragon-slayer better than anyone else. The best part about it was that he knew he could get away with it, which was a privilege reserved only for him, and perhaps to Lucy, but she never pushed the fire mage that far.

The ice mage noticed the guild's doors opening, revealing the blue-haired dragon-slayer and her Exceed coming in. Happy noticed the recently arrived mages almost instantaneously. He turned towards Gray one last time, "Later Gray, have fun," he added as he flew away in the direction of where Charle and Wendy were now sitting. _Devious little cat… but I can't wait for that fire-breathing moron to get to the guild, _he smirked,_ Oh, this is going to be such a great day._

* * *

"Gajeel, if that's true, then we have to head back to the guild! I have to be there before Lu-chan gets there! I can't miss that moment!"

The iron dragon-slayer watched the excited mage on his lap as she spoke, not entirely happy that she wanted to leave their current position. Suddenly, an important memory flashed back, "You're right, Shorty, we _definitely_ can't miss the others' surprised faces." He evilly smirked, _Revenge is sweet, Demon Woman…_

Gajeel helped Levy stand up and gather her stuff, grabbing her hand as they walked away from the park's bench and holding it tightly. This woman was taken and he would make damn sure the entire world knew that, starting with those two teammates of hers. Once they arrived at the guild, he would have to set some ground rules. The iron mage knew the news of them being a couple would stir up his guildmates, but he also knew the second the pink-haired dragon-slayer and his mate showed up, all the attention would be redirected to them. He smirked, both the dragon-slayers' announcements would prove too much for a certain snoopy mage to handle, and oh how he couldn't wait to see that. _Gi hee!_

* * *

Natsu had been staring into Lucy's loving and teary eyes all the while as he waited for her answer, and when it finally came, he experienced a feeling he had never felt before. He felt completed, at peace, elated, exhilarated... all at once. He guessed this was what it felt to be truly and fully happy.

"Always, Natsu, until we are too old, get too tired, or find something better to do. Always and forever, together."

He wrapped the stellar mage in a tight embrace, lifting her up and stepping out of bed. She grabbed onto his shoulders firmly as he began spinning around the room with her in his arms, both smiling widely and laughing wholeheartedly. Natsu didn't know where his life would have taken him if he hadn't followed that lead on Igneel and met Lucy in Hargeon that day, but he was sure their paths would have crossed somewhere else along the line. He was certain that he was fated to share his life, all of it, with this woman. _Thanks Igneel, I guess that, in a way, it has always been you who has guided me to my destiny and given me the courage to do what I have to do._

* * *

So, how was it?  
I hope you all liked Lucy's ring and what I did with Levy's heirloom, I really had to let creative license take over since we don't know anything about her backstory.

I've started chapter 5 already, I'd say 1/5 of it is done, and I can promise more NaLu fluff and some more awesome evil possessive Gajeel. Plus, everyone's making their way back to the guild, forces will collide... and although everyone _thinks_ it is their lucky day, that really isn't the case.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone! As always, thanks for reviewing, faving, and alerting! I can't believe this is already chapter 5 and there's still more to go.  
_Tal 123 - _Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked the story, and yes, NaLu and GaLe are the best.

What can I say about this chapter? Well, for starters, it is a little more lighthearted that the last two. Sorry to all the Happy fans, but he's too distracted with Charle at the time being so he won't be making an appearance (I missed him, too). And now we have two mated dragon-slayers making their way to the guild, a scheming Gray, an unsuspecting Mira, a newly-armed Gajeel, an overly-happy Natsu, a self-assured Levy, and a possessive Lucy. Oh, dear Dark-Lord Dragneel save us!

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 5:

Natsu and Lucy were sitting on the floor, breathing hard and exhausted from their hyperactive twirling around the room. Examining the common area, she realized it was in a bigger mess than it had been before, even if she had thought that to be an impossible deed after the dragon-slayer's frenzied scavenger hunt for what she assumed to be the ring that now proudly adorned her finger. However, in spite of the current state of her room, she couldn't bring herself to care right now. She had had one of the most amazing days of her life, and she wasn't going to let anything, or anyone, ruin it – and that included Gray attempting to ridicule and publicly humiliate Natsu for his adorable underwear once they got to the guild, since she knew Happy would go out of his way to make sure the ice mage was informed of Natsu's little secret (that apparently wasn't that much of a secret anymore, since he had yelled it to the four winds days before). Normally, Lucy would've stepped aside and pretended not to care, while deep down inside she would be laughing at her friends' rambunctious antiques. Today, however, and the matter at hand were an entirely different case, and she knew she would have to intervene in order to protect her mate's pride. Also, thinking more selfishly, she knew she'd have to interfere if she wanted to continue to delight at the sight of her ridiculously cute fire dragon-slayer in his dorky yet extremely sexy underwear.

The sun made its way into the apartment, a ray of light landing on the beautiful ring. The reflecting multi-colored shimmer snapped the stellar mage out of her reverie and brought her attention back to the piece of jewelry. She stared at it for a few seconds and smiled, realizing something. "It all makes sense now," the blond finally said, turning to look at the fire mage who was still gasping next to her. "What do you mean?" he asked, while trying to catch his breath. Lucy giggled, "Why you and Gajeel have been hanging out more often," she stated, "You asked him to make the ring, didn't you?" Natsu grinned back at her and moved closer behind her to envelope her in his arms once more, knowing fully well it would have only been a matter of time before she figured things out completely. He leaned back onto the side of the couch as he placed the girl between his legs and rested his head on her left shoulder. "I did," he almost whispered, and then proceeded to nuzzle her neck, taking in her addictive scent. Mavis, was it intoxicating; he could stay in this position for hours and not even realize that time had elapsed. "But, I wasn't the one who came _begging_ for a favor fist," he finished stating, once he was done reveling in her scent for the time being.

The blond turned slightly to look at him, both surprised and amused, "Don't tell me..." The dragon-slayer nodded as a smirk made its way onto his face. "He's finally ready to make his move. He wanted me to melt some coins to make a necklace for that thing she got from her family a few weeks ago," he replied, turning her around so she was facing him and he could look her in the eye. "You see, I had been searching for a decent ring for ages, but hadn't found anything I liked even a tiny bit," he continued, as he cupped the stellar mage's face with both hands. "So, when Gajeel approached me the other day at the guild and told me what he needed, I decided to take advantage of that ability of his and have him make the ring I always wanted you to have," he concluded, pulling Lucy closer so he could kiss her deeply.

Natsu _needed_ to show her how he felt, even if he was sure she already knew. Today had been a particularly overwhelming day for him. It had almost been three months since he had decided that he wanted to take the next step with Lucy and a little over a month since he had started to search for rings. Contrastingly, it had barely been six hours since he had held Lucy's ring in his hand, and not even then, had he known what he was going to say to her. He had managed to do a decent job at keeping himself in check, but things had taken an entirely different turn after he had tried to chastise Happy for being an inappropriate traitor – although he supposed that Happy not knowing boundaries was his own fault for being too lenient, he loved that cat too much for his own good – and his emotions had stirred out of control. He couldn't really understand how that one simple question had made its way out of his mouth so easily and how it had successfully conveyed everything that he so strongly felt and wanted. Hearing Lucy's equally simple yet emotionally charged answer had thrown him into a rapture of exhilarating sentiments he could only let out by physically exhausting himself. Perhaps a long sprint around Magnolia would have done the trick, but he had no intention of letting the stellar mage out of the range of his heightened senses. So he decided on the next best thing – twirling around her apartment until his legs were shaking, his arms heavy, and his lungs begging him for air; and, of course, making sure she was down for the ride alongside him.

The fire dragon-slayer knew he was extremely possessive of his mate, but, unlike the vast majority of his guildmates or the overall residents of Magnolia thought, it had nothing to do with him being jealous or insecure. No, he trusted Lucy completely, in and out of the battlefield; he knew he was the only one engraved in her soul just as she was the only one in his. However, he understood that most people would never truly realize that his relationship with Lucy was as deep as it could go, and their assumptions only led to misunderstandings. To Natsu, scaring off pests and beating the crap out of other males who looked at Lucy desirably was a simple bonus. People shouldn't really be surprised; he was known for taking any excuse to start a fight, and what could be a better one than pretending to defend his claim over his mate? In all honesty, the only thing he cared about when it came down to it was protecting his mate both physically and emotionally, and that included trying to make others understand what sort of bond the two shared with each other. Lucy was fully aware of this particularly enjoyable form of entertainment for him, of course, and every time he dashed forward to beat up those poor bastards, she would remind him not to be too rough on them while failing miserably at pretending to hide an amused giggle. If things got serious, though, he wouldn't even hesitate to lay down his life to save hers; and if someone targeted Lucy, he would make it his personal mission to destroy that person until he or she was scarred for life, afraid of even leaving their own home and hunted by sleep-depriving nightmares of the fire-ignited Salamander.

Natsu pressed his lips roughly over Lucy's, genuinely happy that he could finally release all of the emotions, wishes, and thoughts that he had been keeping to himself for all those months, knowing he would always have someone to share them with, someone who would protect them as arduously as he would protect hers. He tightened his embrace, mentally reminding himself of everything that had occurred between the two of them that morning. He unreservedly pushed forward into her mouth.

* * *

Gray had been sitting at one of the tables at the guild for over an hour waiting for the pink-haired mage to arrive. Happy had left him to his own devices a while ago to devote his attention on pursuing Charle and offering her more fish wrapped in what he could only guess to be Lucy's colored ribbons. _What a waste of talent, _he scoffed, _he could have helped me plan my crushing attack_. He scanned the guild again and focused on the unmoving doors once more. W_here the fuck is this asshole? I don't have all day… Erza could wake up any minute, too._ He winced at the thought of what would probably await him if she did,_ and then I'd be in serious trouble. _He wondered whether it would be better for him to leave and go hide from the redhead's life-threatening rage instead of waiting on the fire dragon-slayer. This wouldn't be the only chance he would get to mess with Natsu._ But this is too good to let go of!_ he greedily reminded himself, _And the sooner I do it, the more effective it will be_.

Reassuring himself that the outcome would be worth the wait, the ice mage decided to chance it and hope that luck was on his side that day. He convinced himself that whatever was keeping the fire-breathing idiot couldn't take much longer. The guy always made an appearance at Fairy Tail, unless he was out on a mission, of course, but he knew that wasn't the case today. If everything else failed, Gray would send Happy out to look for him and drag him back against his will if necessary. To his further enjoyment, the guild was pretty crowded, so the ice alchemist knew that what he had planned for the sucker would be even crueler. If he played his cards right, it was possible that the entire guild would never forget the little stunt he had in mind and Natsu would have to live with the shame for the rest of his miserable life. _Ah! If only… _Gray smirked at the possibility of delivering a crushing blow against his rival in their never-ending strife. But the fire idiot had to show his fiery hide soon for him to do that. He didn't have all day – there was this other… _stuff_ he had to do that would occupy his late afternoon – and the realization that he was doing nothing but waiting _for_ the squinty-eyed dumbass didn't sit too well with him either. He scowled, deciding to forget about those negative thoughts and go over his plan one more time. He needed everything to be perfect, so he had to consider all possible scenarios. After all, the first rule of war was to _never_ underestimate your opponent. _We'll see who's the ultimate "Underwear Prince" Fire-breath..._

* * *

Lucy broke away for air and moved her right hand up to comb the fire dragon-slayer's tousled hair lovingly. "I'm happy for them," she said with a soft smile, "and I want you to know that I feel the same way you do, Natsu. I know that sometimes our feelings are too strong to put down in words, and I can only imagine what you must have gone through trying to keep this from everyone, but you managed to capture every single emotion perfectly in this ring… It really is perfect." She watched the dragon-slayer smile once more before he leaned in to kiss her one more time, tightening the hold he had of her, and when his lips reached hers again, for the umpteenth time that day, she responded with the same passion she had showed when they had first touched that morning. She glided her hands through his hair and pushed her body against his, just as the fire mage's own hands slid towards her hips, lifting her up and bringing her onto his lap so she could comfortably straddle him. She grabbed a fist of his hair and pulled it forcefully as she nibbled on his lower lip, instantaneously feeling the temperature of the room getting higher and his grip getting stronger.

Natsu groaned, he could never get enough of this woman; no matter what he did, it was simply never enough. He pulled his lips away from hers, kissing his way to her ear, where he whispered in a low and husky voice, "I am so fucking lucky you're mine, Lucy… _all_ _mine_." He nuzzled her neck as he inhaled her scent again, "You really do drive my crazy, you know?" He felt the blond on top of him quiver, her body reacting instinctively to his tone and words. The dragon-slayer smirked, glad that he could elicit reactions similar to the ones she got from him each and every time she touched him, and without allowing her any time to answer, he proceeded to suck lightly on her earlobe. "So entirely mine, always and forever," he murmured once more, echoing the words she had given him in response to the most important question he had ever asked in his life. Their eyes met briefly before their lips collided against each other again, rejoicing in the feeling each provoked on the other as their tongues moved to the beat of their thumping hearts, their hands holding onto one another as if they never wanted to let go. They pulled apart hyperventilating, and after a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes, they moved to rest on each other's foreheads in the placid silence that had invaded the apartment while they recuperated. Their eyes closed, focusing on feeling the other's heat and listening to the other's heartbeat next to them. Both mages smiled contentedly.

A second flash of the brilliant Magnolian sun hit the small apartment and the two barely moving figures in it. "I think we should get dressed and go to guild before Happy gets bored and ends up doing something we'll regret," the stellar mage stated as she opened her eyes and slowly withdrew her face from the dragon-slayer's. Natsu sighed and nodded, opening his own eyes to meet her relaxed gaze, "I think you're right, Lucy," and grabbing her by the back of her thighs, he brought both of them up into a standing position in a flashing moment. She giggled as he put her back down on the floor, holding onto the bed sheet that had miraculously stayed in place around her body. She walked into her closet and chose a new outfit, deciding it would be too much of a hassle to find what she was wearing before they had stormed her bedroom. Lucy decided that cleaning her apartment would be left for another occasion. Today, she just wanted to relax and enjoy her time with the dragon-slayer. Oh, and congratulate Levy and Gajeel on their new relationship. She could confidently bet her whole month's rent on the fact that the script mage would want to speak to her about what had happened once she arrived at Fairy Tail, assuming that the bluenette would be at the guild. She also knew that just as Natsu had told her about Gajeel and Levy, the iron mage had probably shared with Levy what Natsu had asked him to do, so she could expect to be crowded with curious questions and squeals of joy from her blue-haired friend as well. As she was redoing her hair, she began wondering how Mirajane would take the news. She would probably freak out or throw a celebratory party. She wasn't sure; she could only remember what had happened when Natsu had announced that they were a couple and shuddered as she reminisced about it. _Things will get way too out of control… even for Fairy Tail. _She finished buttoning her white sleeveless shirt, _There's also Gray and Happy to worry about…,_ and tugged it under her blue skirt, _And how could I forget that idiotic fire-breathing dragon-slayer just outside my bathroom door? I'm sure that he will be the main cause of whatever type of mayhem that's going to be unleashed once we get there._ She sighed as she gave one last look at her reflection in the mirror, making her way out of the bathroom as she heard the fire mage's impatient calls for her to be done already.

* * *

The iron dragon-slayer had run into the opportunity to show off his new status sooner than he had expected. Not even ten minutes after they had left the park and he had decided on "chatting" with her two teammates, who lacked any understanding of what personal space meant, said mages appeared in front of them. Even if they had just interrupted another pleasant episode of his playful teasing of the script mage, Gajeel couldn't deny that he loved the current expression of shock and dismay on their faces. In fact, he reveled on it. _Gi, hee, hee… losers._ Things were clearly going his way today – except for almost getting face-slapped by the annoyingly "happy" blue cat when leaving the guild earlier – and, after he was done with these two idiots, he had every intension of trying his luck against the Take-over sibling who had made his past few days pretty uncomfortable – or miserable, but he would take that knowledge to the grave.

The iron mage didn't actually want to actively start a fight with Levy's two teammates, but he was well aware that they shared a troublesome history and that her two friends would do everything in their power to protect her. They just needed to understand that that wasn't their job anymore. Furthermore, they also needed to realize that whatever happened between the script mage and himself had nothing to do with them and that, even if they cared for her wellbeing, meddling in her private life had _never_ been their place. Gajeel knew Jet and Droy had always respected him for being a strong mage and had stayed out of his way precisely for that reason, but he wanted them to acknowledge that he was, at least, a suitable choice for Levy romantically. It wasn't that he _wanted_ or _needed_ their approval for starting a relationship with her, he couldn't give a flying fuck about what those two thought of him. However, he knew that Levy would mind if there was any form of enmity between the three of them, and the last thing he wanted was to force her into a complicated situation where she would have to pick between her personal and her professional life. Therefore, for her, he would make sure the two mages understood how serious he was about his solid script mage. That way, even if they didn't approve of her choice, they would have to respect it.

* * *

Natsu followed the stellar mage with his eyes as she moved around her room. He saw her grab a new set of clean clothes, an action that led him to believe, correctly, that she was refusing to acknowledge the disastrous state her apartment was currently in. He remained still and continued to watch the girl as her fingers moved around her closet and picked a blue skirt. _She always did look good in blue, _he inwardly decided_._ The blond then walked over to her dresser to get a new pair of underwear, and he noticed it was one of the matching sets he had bought for her after burning some of her intimate apparel during a mission a few months back. _But she always did look better in anything I bought for her. _The thought forced a smug side grin onto his face, reminding himself that he liked her the best when she was wearing _his_ clothing. Thinking about underwear also reminded him of his own apparently _very_ appealing flying dragons printed boxer-briefs, and that satisfied smirk from earlier that morning made its way onto his blissful face again, _Ah, I think I need to do some shopping... I can't believe I'm actually thinking that… but there is that other pair of fire spitting dragons I don't own yet... _He mentally reveled on what he could be recompensed with when wearing such a piece of clothing. _Jeez, I'm such a lucky guy!_

The fire dragon-slayer came back to reality when the stellar mage approached him and mockingly reprimanded him, "You really should be getting ready instead of staring into oblivion and looking like a complete idiot, Natsu." The addressed mage smiled back at her and, taking advantage of their close proximity, he pecked her on the lips once more before she walked past him and disappeared into the bathroom to get dressed. He stared at the closed door for a few seconds with a gleeful grin, _So lucky, Lucy, so infinitely lucky. _He then began to ransack the apartment for the rest of his clothes.

* * *

Jet and Droy stood astounded, mouth agape, and eye-widened. The scene was pretty comical, and Levy would have laughed if she didn't feel some sort of remorse in the back of her mind for hurting her friends' feelings. She knew that things between the four of them were already complicated, and the last thing she wanted was to worsen an already delicate subject. She had never discussed her private life with her two teammates, but she knew that it would be hard for them to accept that she had chosen Gajeel as her life partner over everyone else. In fact, she was sure they wouldn't really understand what it was that she now shared with the iron mage. She had heard them talk about Natsu and Lucy enough, and they, like so many others, completely missed just how serious and in sync the two mages really were. However, just like Gray and Erza had done already, her two teammates would have to try to accommodate to the new situation as best they could. She only hoped they could do as well as Lucy and Natsu's teammates, but she knew that, unlike Gray and Erza, Jet and Droy were not really friends with Gajeel. She had no intension of leaving her team though, she loved working with them; but she also had no intension of letting go of Gajeel, ever, and she would make that very clear to them.

The newly formed couple waited a few more minutes before Jet suddenly broke the silence that had surrounded the awkward situation they all currently found themselves in. Lifting a shaky finger to point at the two mages, he barely managed to choke out, "You... you are… together?" Droy wanted to compliment his friend for not stuttering, even if he had had a hard time speaking, but he was having a really hard time trying to snap out of his own perplexity and finish chewing the hotdog bite he had put into his mouth seconds before running into Gajeel and Levy. The plant mage mentally decided that to avoid looking even more pathetic, he would just keep still and quiet, waiting for the blue-haired girl or the iron mage to answer.

"That's right!" the dragon-slayer almost yelled, pride evident in his tone of voice and not even waiting for the orange-haired mage to try to say anything else. A devious smirk made its way onto his face as he let go of Levy's hand and, instead, grabbed her by the waist possessively, successfully bringing her closer to him. He felt her snake her arm around his own waist, understanding her action as a silent sign of support and encouragement. "The Shrimp's my mate," he began firmly, "I'm not going to ask you to leave her alone, or to stop working together and hanging out with her, but what I am going to do is to _demand_ that you respect her decision and accept that I'm a part of her life as much as she is a part of mine," Gajeel continued, noticing a faint blush spreading across the bluenette's face, who was still holding onto him quietly and staring sternly at her teammates. _There, plain and simple. They should get that._

It took another long pause for the male members of team Shadow Gear to digest what the dragon-slayer had said and to regain their composure, "Seems fair," Droy said after swallowing his food bite. "We only want her to be happy," Jet added. Both mages had decided long time ago that they would support Levy in whatever decision she made about Gajeel. They knew this day would come eventually, and they weren't entirely sure of what would happen to team Shadow Gear after it. They had observed how Natsu was with Lucy, and they had assumed that the iron dragon-slayer would behave just as possessively as the other one did. Natsu and Lucy had been a team since she had joined Fairy Tail, but after they had begun their relationship, the fire mage had made it clear that any male who dared to get a little too close to the stellar mage risked getting irreparably charred. They had heard enough stories from Gray to know that he wasn't joking when he had showed up to the guild one day stating that Lucy had accepted to become his "mate" and that he wouldn't hesitate to unleash his dragon force on anyone who disrespected that decision. Nevertheless, they did have to admit it was pretty hilarious when strangers hit on Lucy or, worse, touched her, the ignorant poor souls awaited a not-so-friendly reminder of what type of fear the guild's fire dragon-slayer, already renowned around Fiore for his uncanny destruction abilities and his unreserved raw power, was capable of instilling on his prey. They didn't completely understand how Gray could have continued to work with the couple or share some of these stories with amusement, when he was, in fact, included into some of them – even if the fire dragon-slayer knew that Gray had absolutely no romantic intentions towards Lucy. But, perhaps, it was simply another reason for the two rivaling mages to fight and not be stopped by a raging Erza Scarlet. She was too proper to meddle into other people's relationships; she herself had a complicated one with a persecuted criminal. Fairy Tail understood that she didn't like others prying into her private life, so she wouldn't pry into theirs either.

Still, even if team Natsu had remained intact, the thought that if Levy and Gajeel started dating he would insist on her going on missions exclusively with him, scared the two Shadow Gear men. They loved the script mage and their team too much to let it disintegrate, but if it ended up being what Levy wanted, they would have to accept and live with her decision. However, both mages had been utterly surprised after hearing the iron dragon-slayer defend his relationship with Levy so self-assuredly. They had expected him to threaten them, not to delegate for a peaceful solution to put their rocky past behind them. His actions had, instead, proven to both Jet and Droy that they had judged the iron mage prematurely; he was much more in tune with the bluenette's feelings than they had presumed. His words had also allowed them to hope, since it appeared as if Gajeel and Levy dating didn't necessarily guarantee the end of Team Shadow Gear. The iron dragon-slayer seemed to understand what Levy felt, wanted, and needed as much as they did. In fact, they had to admit that he seemed to do so way more than they ever did, or ever would. After his short yet direct speech, Jet and Droy realized that Gajeel would take care of their teammate to the best of his abilities, and they could only allow him to do just that.

"Gi, hee," the iron mage laughed triumphantly, "With that said and agreed on, we can discuss the details of the new situation later. But for now, you'll have to excuse us, there's somewhere we need to be." And without waiting for a response from the once again flabbergasted mages, he pulled Levy to the side, circling around their frozen guildmates, and continued walking in Fairy Tail's direction. _Two down, one to go._

* * *

Gray saw the doors to Fairy Tail opening at last and stood up from his seat in eager anticipation. He was greatly disappointed, however, when, instead of seeing the pink-haired dragon-slayer coming in, he saw the other dragon-slayer walking in with Levy. The black-haired Metal-freak had a proud smirk on his face that the ice mage had never seen before, and that made him wonder. In fact, upon closer inspection, Gajeel and Levy had stopped at the guild's threshold and were both smiling, clinging close to one another, and he could have sworn they were holding hands as well. However, before he could say or do anything to confirm his suspicions, he heard Mira emit one of the loudest squeals he had ever heard in his entire and wonderfully chilled life. The rather high-pitched scream had momentary deafened him, just like the rest of the guild, he was sure, and when he was finally beginning to regain his hearing and his head had stopped ringing, he decided on further examining what the situation was with the newly arrived iron and script mages. The ice alchemist was always up for finding new ways of upsetting dragon-slayers, whether they manipulated fire or iron. However, his dark wishes were rapidly truncated, since the iron dragon-slayer moved faster than him and spoke first.

Gajeel waited for the effects of the inhumanly disturbing screech of the Demon Woman to pass before yelling loudly and emphasizing all of his words, "This goes out to all of you raunchy fuckers" – giving a particularly dirty look at Macao and Wakaba – "the Shrimp and I are now together and whoever dares to mess with her, in any way, shape, or form, will have to deal with me." He paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "I'll assume you've all seen and heard enough from the fire-breathing Salamander to know what having a mate entails, but if anyone is still confused or has any questions, my fists and I will be very happy to make it all clear to you. And, finally, let me add one last thing: I promise you have never truly experienced inscrutable pain until you have pissed off a mated dragon." The iron mage finished his speech with a life-depriving glare. He then turned to look at Levy, who had said nothing to his boisterous claims and instead had remained beside him holding his hand firmly. He was glad she felt comfortable with his public announcements and he assumed she had probably expected one. Perfect, if she could put up with this, then she would have no problem to all of the manhandling he had planned for them from here on out.

The iron dragon-slayer was enjoying this way too much, and he had a hard time hiding the amused smirk that was pushing its way onto his face. _Gi, hee, hee, their expressions are simply priceless! No wonder the Salamander enjoys doing this so often! _His smirk widened, _Imagine what we could accomplish together… Wait… together? What the fuck am I thinking about here? Concentrate, Gajeel! _He decided to leave his rather unsettling thoughts of partnering with the fire dragon-slayer for a moment and revel at his guildmates' faces again. The iron mage then roared out an "Understood?" a few seconds later just to further indulge in their shocked forms as they jumped out of fright and uttered an unintelligible "Aye, sir!" He could have sworn he heard Levy giggling after his last remark. He made a mental note to remind himself to tease her about it later, but he had more important matters to take care of at present time. Gajeel turned his attention to the back of the guild where a dumbfounded Mira was standing frozen in position, mouth agape, right eye twitching, one shaky hand lightly touching her lips, and the other holding a pitcher of beer she had begun pouring over Cana's mug, which was now overflowing, the alcohol splashing on her burgundy dress as the card mage gave her an unpleasant scowl for wasting the precious liquid. _Phase one complete. Gi, hee!_

* * *

Before anyone had time to react to the iron dragon-slayer's shocking words, the person Gray had been so anxiously expecting to show up all morning at Fairy Tail, finally walked through the guild's doors, hand in hand with his own mate, who was wearing one heck of a shinny ring on her left hand. _Oh… _the ice mage's eyes widened franticly, _No. Fucking. Way…_

"Oh, hey everyone!" Natsu yelled from the guild's entrance. "Since it seems as it is announcement time," he continued as he lifted Lucy's ringed hand, "I'll like to let you all know that Lucy has accepted to pledge the rest of her life to mine!" He paused for a second as he examined his guildmates' expressions of overwhelming disbelief, _And now, for the fun part, _"And, just like last time, any of you fuckers even dares to look at Lucy the wrong way, and I'll make it my personal mission to fuck you up so bad, you'll be screaming my name in your nightmares until the day you die." _There, negative thoughts out… _Natsu smirk grew wider at the sight of his distraught and speechless guildmates. Some of them had even fainted, _Oh for Igneel's right wing, look at those faces… Priceless_.

If the fire mage's speech hadn't been a shockingly enough piece of news, the ray of light that had landed on Lucy's ring just as the fire dragon-slayer spoke and had managed to half-blind all of their gaping guildmates, had definitely succeeded in making whoever had retained some of their sanity to lose it completely. For once in its many years of existence, Fairy Tail's crowded guildhall stood in utter and complete silence.

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So, how was it? I hope I managed to keep a nice balance between the romance and the humor in this chapter. As for chapter 6... all I can say, quoting Juvia here, is "pandemonium." What to expect? Powerful forces colliding: Gajeel, Mira, Levy, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, Gray, and the sleeping time-bomb that is Erza...


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone! As always, thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts. I'm glad you are enjoying the story as much as I enjoy writing it.  
_Derrick - _So nice to hear from you again! What can I say, Gajeel and Natsu are hilarious as possessive dragon-slayers. And Erza's and Mira's reactions will be epic. Just wait for those in the following chapter(s).

As for this chapter... Well, as I said on the end note last chapter, "pandemonium" is starting to unfold. I won't say more.  
I would really appreciate if you all left me a review and told me what you thought of this chapter. There were some things I wasn't so sure about, so it'd be really nice if you did. Thanks in advance!

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Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

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"A Favor"

Chapter 6:

Gajeel had to hand it to the guy, Fairy Tail's Salamander never failed to disappoint. He couldn't have timed the pink-haired guy's arrival better if they had planned it together, and the fire mage had unintendedly showed up to deliver the overwhelming blow on his unaware target. Of course, that simplistic and childish tone the fire dragon-slayer had used with his guildmates had only served to further accomplish the effect he had wanted to create in the first place. Before, Gajeel would have assumed Natsu had spoken that way because he was an idiot who understood nothing about life and social relations, but after spending some time with him and witnessing him that morning at the jewelry shop, the iron mage knew better. His fellow guildmate was doing this _totally_ and _absolutely_ on purpose, knowing _perfectly_ well just what sort of reactions such words and tone would provoke. He only had to redirect his gaze towards the fire dragon-slayer to see that clear smug smirk of amusement pasted on his face. However, what he saw next, he definitely had not expected.

After looking at the pink-haired moron reveling in self-adoration for what he had just caused, Gajeel glanced at his blond mate. To the iron mage's absolute shock, the girl had the same exact expression that Natsu had on her own face, and Gajeel realized instantly just how perfectly in sync the two mages next to him truly were. What was even more surprising was the fact that this woman had managed to covertly entertain herself for who knew how long while maintaining an innocent and non-knowing image with the rest of her guildmates. _Sneaky little... _Did that mean she was also aware of all those supposed jealousy outbursts of her pink-haired mate? Who was he kidding, of course it did! She was as an active participant of those scenes as the fire dragon-slayer himself. Gajeel smirked; perhaps he hadn't given enough credit to the Bunny Girl. He would rather be caught dead than admitting to it out loud, but he kind of liked her more for it now. _Perhaps the Shrimp doesn't have such bad taste in picking her friends..._

As his thoughts led him back to Levy once more, he wondered if she would partake of such activities with him in the near future. He turned his attention to the petite bluenette, who was still holding his hand tightly, and as he examined her countenance, he recognized that spark in her eyes and that shy yet amused side grin. _Oh, she is definitely enjoying this, too… Gi, hee!_ The iron mage reconsidered the decision he had made earlier at the jeweler's that day. Perhaps, besides including the fire dragon-slayer in his frequent night escapades, adding the two girls was an advantageous plus for wrecking havoc. _Those poor idiots won't even know what hit them… _He smirked evilly, and as much as he appreciated the idea of what chaos he could achieve if his mate was in on his vast bunch of cruel shenanigans, he realized he still had unfinished business to attend to at the present time. _That sort of fun will just have to wait,_ he said to himself._ First, let's finish the matter at hand,_ the grin widened.

The iron dragon-slayer observed his stunned guildmates with pleasure and care. However, his attention concentrated on one mage in particular. The news of him claiming the script mage had already rendered her speechless and had shocked her enough to freeze her on her spot at the bar. Mirajane definitely hadn't seen that coming. Perhaps, if she had been given the necessary time to absorb the information properly, she would have calmed down and gone back to her usual self and started handing out celebratory drinks as she patted herself on the back for having such an avid eye for figuring out other people's feelings before everyone else did. However, to much of the white-haired barmaid's dismay, that hadn't been the case today. Mirajane hadn't been expecting the fire dragon-slayer to show up mere seconds later and state with such carefree attitude that he and Lucy had practically just gotten married for eternity and beyond to her easily-to-get-carried-away eyes. The absurdly brilliant shine of that ring on her finger hadn't helped either, and now, the Take-over Demon had been utterly defeated by the imaginative powers of her own mind. Gajeel could see it in her eyes and he was now only waiting for her to snap.

And he didn't have to wait long.

Just as some of the mages had begun to regain their consciousness after plummeting ungracefully down onto the guild's floor from overwhelming shock and eye-scorching brightness, the guildhall was taken over by an almost inhumane squeal that made the walls shake and forced everyone who was awake to cover their ears, their bodies to tense, and to redirect their attention towards the bar. Mira had just shrilled her life out and was now collapsing onto the floor as she twitched and muttered something intelligible for regular human hearing. However, the two dragon-slayers with their heightened senses heard every word perfectly, "To-to-too muchhh… Too much happi-ness." The iron mage started guffawing instantly just as the biggest smirk of achievement appeared on his arrogant face. As he laughed to his heart's content, he noticed the overwhelmed mage had, not without a serious effort, readjusted her attention on him. _Time for the last move, _he reminded himself_._ Gajeel wasted no time in yelling back at her the finishing touch of what he considered his not-so-well-though-out plan but perfectly executed revenge, "I _told_ you I couldn't _wait_ to see _your_ reaction," and resumed his boisterous laughing. He observed amusedly how the Take-over mage scowled, her eyes widening again in realization and burning with what he could easily label as "wrathful hate," as she tried, in a last, desperate attempt, to move before she twitched some more and passed out completely on the floor. _Gi, hee, hee… Now, who had the last laugh, huh, Demon Woman? A clue: me._

* * *

Happy had watched the very public scene the two dragon-slayers had just made at the guild from the back of the guildhall, sitting next to Wendy, who, for a strange reason, didn't look in the least bit surprised. She didn't look fazed at all; instead, she had a small, contented smile on her young face. _How could she have known?_ he wondered. He wanted to asked her about it, but he decided that would have to wait, since he really needed to approach his foster father first and do two very important things: First, congratulate both him and Lucy for their decision to become a family and, second, apologize to Natsu for being a bigger pain in the ass lately. If he had known the reason why Natsu had been distant had been to go find, or make –Natsu wouldn't settle for nothing but the best–, a ring for Lucy, he would have never been so heartless to the fire mage in the first place. He couldn't deny it had been heaps of fun though, and a part of him begged him not to ask for forgiveness. He really had felt lonely in the past month and his feelings had been truly hurt. However, despite these self-centered thoughts, the blue cat realized he had been selfish and, while caring only for his own feelings, he had failed to notice his best friend's unusually jittery emotional state. It all made sense to him now, and he immediately understood why the fire dragon-slayer had chosen to be so secretive. Natsu didn't need to tell him, the Exceed knew his foster father better than that. Happy knew perfectly well how possessive the pink-haired male could get over his mate, and he understood that even if his partner tried to deny it, deep down, Natsu only wanted to share that part of himself with her. Anyone else would be considered an intruder into the couple's intimacy, and the Exceed knew that included him. In spite of all that, he had never felt excluded by neither Natsu nor Lucy, and as this heavy realization hit his furry head, guilt and regret started to creep up on him at faster speeds than he could devour a fish.

The no-longer-happy Happy then remembered how he had shared with Gray not that long ago the private information about Natsu's shameful underwear, and the guilt began to take over him completely. Looking at his foster father and his blond friend look so radiantly happy made the remorse overwhelm him entirely and his small body began to tremble with self-hate. The Exceed supposed the ice mage wouldn't stop from carrying out whatever plan he had concocted while he awaited for the fire dragon-slayer, indistinctively of whether the pink-haired mage had just made it clear that this was one of the most amazing days of his life or not. Gray wouldn't hesitate to ruin the occasion and deliver a crushing attack on his unsuspecting rival. In fact, Happy guessed that humiliating the fire mage today would only be an added bonus to the raven-haired male. _What have I done!_ he reprimanded himself in frantic anger. His body continued to shake and little tears began to make their way out of his young black eyes, darkening the blue fur around his eyes as they fell, just as the guilt continued to heavily oppress his furry being. He moved his trembling paws to wipe the salty liquid from his eyes. _I have to do something… Warn him… Anything…_

"Natsuuuu~!" Happy finally screamed, flying out of the table he was sitting on at full speed towards the fire mage and successfully breaking the silence that had bewitched the rest of the spectators.

* * *

Gray had been stopped on his tracks too many times already that day. He hated to be overwhelmed by surprise and to be rendered totally useless thanks to it. First, he had been knocked out of his senses for a good chunk of the morning thanks to Juvia's inability to control her emotions. Then, he had further enraged the already pissed off Erza while trying to escape the water mage. Finally, just when he thought his day was beginning to brighten up and he could tilt the balance of his drawn battle with Natsu his way, the annoyingly cheerful dragon-slayer had showed up and rendered everyone speechless. Why did the idiotic fire mage have to choose _this_ day from all of the rest to propose to Lucy? Why couldn't he wait until tomorrow, or next week? Now, the ice mage would look like the biggest asshole in Fiore if he went ahead with his plan to humiliate the pink-haired groom. He was beyond annoyingly mad and frustrated. To further his already fowl mood, he had just witnessed Gajeel do to Mira exactly what he had been aching to do to Natsu since he had woken up. He didn't know what had started the rivalry between those two, but it looked like the iron mage had really caught Mira off-guard. However, the Take-over barmaid wasn't known as the "Demon Mirajane" for nothing. The Metal-freak had no idea who he was messing with; this was clearly not the last he was going to see of her. _Idiot._

The ice alchemist grimaced, he had been made to look like an idiot, and Gray despised looking like an idiot. It reminded him too much of the fire dragon-slayer, and he would never want to accept that they had more things in common than their Fairy Tail stamp on their bodies. Besides, if Gajeel could have his fun, why couldn't he do the same? Gray was angry and he knew he was probably taking their friendly rivalry too far, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. He watched the pink-haired mage as he amusedly observed their guildmates' shocked faces. He knew the dragon-slayer well enough to know he found this whole thing entertaining, and as he realized that he was the only one not currently enjoying himelf, his anger spiraled out of control. _Fuck this, I'm not gonna go down without a fight. I'm going through with it… I might regret it tomorrow, but I am taking that annoying smirk off that fire-breathing ass's face!_ With that last thought, Gray snapped out of his stupor and began to make his way through the crowd of flabbergasted mages and towards the guild's doors.

* * *

Lucy watched as Gray began to approach her and Natsu. She had just seen _that_ look on his face, and she knew perfectly well what it meant. It meant the ice mage was in a bad mood and he would probably do something he would regret later –like trying to publicly humiliate Natsu, regardless of the news he had just received. She redirected her attention to the fire dragon-slayer, who, in turn, fixed his gaze on her. Natsu's eyes were shinning with so many emotions at the moment. Yes, he was definitely amused by the scene he had just caused at Fairy Tail, but she saw much more in those onyx eyes of him. He was truly happy. He was giving her that same look he had first given her a little bit over a year ago when he had decided to claim her, that same smile that had so fully warmed her body and soul that morning. The pink-haired mage's orbs dazzled with the fiery spark of complete and utter felicity, and that look of his was enough to convince her that she had no choice but to stop her other teammate before he had the chance to erase that rare and wondrous mien of the dragon-slayer that she loved so much.

* * *

Natsu stared at his mate as she pulled his arm gently, and focused his smile on her. He felt her untangle her fingers from his hand and he automatically, almost unconsciously, turned to give her a puzzled look. "Just wait here, okay? I'll be right back," he heard her say, and then watched her as she walked past him and made her way into the guild. The fire dragon-slayer reexamined the guildhall one more time to find whatever it was that had caught the stellar mage's attention and had forced her to move away from his side. He had wanted to kiss her passionately one more time before going inside the guild and asking Mira for some festive drinks. He wasn't going to get that fire whiskey anytime soon, since the white-haired mage had passed out on the floor from an overload of happiness and anger all thanks to Gajeel. So he had been really looking forward to that kiss. It would have been the perfect finishing touch to his announcement. Lucy was a ridiculously attractive female (according to his totally unbiased opinion) and he knew that even if his guildmates respected the fact that Lucy had chosen him as her life partner and would never dare to interfere between them, the greater male population of his guild, and of Earthland in general, couldn't help but wish that it were them who were kissing the blond at times. He had seen that envious look on several occasions and he would make damn sure to take any opportunity he got to remind them that it was him, and only him, who the blond wanted, or who would ever get the privilege of touching her lips. It was not that he was a cruel bastard who enjoyed showing off to others what could never be theirs. No, but he had always thought that actions spoke louder than words, and for all of those males who didn't know him or the stellar mage, they only needed to see the passion with which she kissed him _back_ to understand that they had no chance with her. She was _willing_ his, all his, and no one else's.

Natsu followed Lucy with his eyes and, as he looked a little bit further from her, he saw Gray approaching with a devious look on his face. He instantly realized where it was that the blond was going. He then heard someone desperately cry his name, and that someone could only be his blue-furred troublemaking son… but there was something different on his voice that day.

"_Natsuuuu~!"_

"Happy!" the fire dragon-slayer joyfully greeted his partner as he enveloped the blue hairball in his warm embrace. The fire dragon-slayer examined his son's appearance. He had never seen him like this before; tears were freely pouring out of his eyes, his entire body was trembling, and when the older mage's gaze found the blue cat's, he could distinguish the bitter signs of remorse and guilt. Looking at his son in such a vulnerable and distraught state made his bright smile falter a little. Happy had been in such a good mood that morning that Natsu couldn't figure out what exactly could have caused his mood to alter so much. Today was a day for celebrations and, even if he was still somewhat mad at the Exceed for advertising to the world the sort of underwear he liked to wear, he couldn't take that miserable expression on his blue friend's face. It didn't belong there. Happy's simplistic way of looking at the world always helped to ease his own mind. The dragon-slayer truly felt, just like he had all those years ago when the blue kitten had hatched from his egg, that the blue hairball he proudly called his son really made everyone around him happy. When things looked gloomy and desperate, Happy would make a comment that made everyone smile or laugh. Happy's good mood was contagious, and today, Natsu needed the Exceed at his happiest to make this a day that neither he nor any of his friends would forget.

"Would you like a chubby fish, buddy?" Natsu said. The sorrowful Exceed lifted his head from the fire mage's chest to look at his pink-haired foster father. He gave him a confused look as his tears continued to flow, "What do you mean, Natsu? Aren't you mad at me for… you know, telling everyone about your underwear?" he stated guiltily between his quiet sobs. Natsu observed his tiny furry friend holding so tightly to his chest and resting in his arms closely. The fire mage could see the tears as they fell from his eyes and the darker blue coloration they had caused on the fur under his eyes. Natsu could feel the cat's trembling and the tears wetting his shirt and arms. He gave his conflicted blue friend an understanding look as he spoke, recognizing the guilt and remorse in his son's voice. "Nah, turns out my _awesome_ underwear is not embarrassing," he simply answered with a small grin, and then continued to try to uplift his son's spirits, he truly hated to see him in this state, "And, you know something, if you hadn't told Lucy about it, I wouldn't have found out just how awesome they truly were. So, fish?"

The response only managed to confuse Happy more. "What are you talking about?" he insisted, although the fire mage's words had succeeded in comforting him somewhat, since knowing that Natsu held no resentment towards him eased his conflicted mind and he was thus able to stop his crying. The dragon-slayer placed a finger on the blue cat's mouth, "Just watch," he almost whispered, pointing at the figure of the ice mage that had started to approach them and was about to be intercepted by Lucy on its way. The Exceed gave him another bewildered glance, and Natsu simply whispered back, "Lucy," and smiled knowingly. The feline's eyes widened and his ears perked up. "Scary Lucy?" he timidly asked, and watched the mage shake his head from side to side and say, "Worse." The cat continued, "Mean Lucy?" just as he moved around Natsu's embrace and re-accommodated himself in it. He saw the mage negate the statement again and felt him begin to pet his tiny head, "Then?" Happy waited a few seconds before the fire dragon-slayer lowered his head to whisper a secretive "Possessive Lucy, Happy. Gray doesn't even know what's coming to him."

The Exceed's eyes widened for a third time that day. He had only seen Lucy's possessive side once, and he _never_ wanted to see it again. He had been making fun of Natsu during a mission one day and taken it too far, as it was common with him. The stellar mage hadn't hit him, like she would do when she was mad about something, or kept him from eating fish, like Natsu tried to do when he was upset. No, what she had done was much, much worse. The stellar mage had verbally confronted him in such a way, that she had made him feel utterly miserable for three days straight for being "mean" and "ungrateful" to the person who had raised him "out of the goodness of his heart." Happy had been so depressed, he hadn't even eaten the fish the fire mage had offered him after seeing his dejected expression. No one at the guild knew about this either, since he had been so embarrassed about what had happened that he had stayed away from Fairy Tail, and Lucy, after seeing him so sad, had apologized and asked him to think more about the consequences of his own actions in the future. He clearly needed to listen to the blond more; perhaps, the whole underwear mess could have been avoided then. Right now, however, he pitted Gray, like Natsu had said, there was really no way the ice mage would be ready for the storm that was about to hit him.

* * *

Gajeel noticed the weird interaction and whispering between the fire dragon-slayer and his cat. He could smell the salty scent of tears and he had heard something off in the Exceed's tone of voice. Confused, he decided to ask the fire mage what was going on, "Salamander, wha-"

Natsu cut him off and, guessing what he was going to ask, answered him back in a low voice that only he could hear, "Shh, I'm trying to enjoy the show." The iron mage saw that smug smirk he had seen earlier that morning appear on the fire dragon-slayer's face and followed his gaze onto the stellar mage who was swaying her hips towards the stripping Icicle's way. _What the…? _He was sort of confused and most definitely intrigued. The ice mage hadn't even paid any attention to the blond who approached him. His mind seemed focused entirely on the fire-breathing ass, and before Gajeel had figured things out, Gray broke the silence that still possessed the rest of their guildmates, "Hey, Fire-breath, I heard something quite interesting about a certain habit of yours!"

* * *

Lucy had been trailing the ice mage since he had begun to move, and she realized that he was ignoring her completely and focusing solely on Natsu. She smiled to herself; the distracted state of the ice alchemist would definitely work to her advantage. She quickened her step a bit, and when she was almost next to him, she heard him yell exactly what she had been expecting he would since she had seen that expression on his face earlier. She reacted instantly, "You wouldn't be referring to the underwear I bought for him last month, now would you?" she said, keeping an innocent façade as she spoke. She watched the ice mage as he halted his advance and redirected his attention towards her for the first time. Gray hadn't even noticed Lucy had moved away from Natsu and was now standing next to him. Startled, he turned to his right and stared intently into the blond's brown eyes somewhat confused. "Wait… What?" he finally managed to choke out. "That's not what I heard," he concluded after a brief pause, still looking bewildered and rather shocked at her statement.

Lucy smiled back at him as she began to close the distance between them, "Well, yes, _I_ bought them for him. I happen to find those printed boxer-briefs extremely cute and adorable, and... _very_, _very_ sexy." She paused, examining Gray's countenance before continuing, "You just have no idea what your imagination might do for you or how _hot_ and _wild_ your anticipation might get when coming across a fire mage… I just thought it'd be appropriate for him to wear _flaming_ underwear, don't you agree?" The stellar mage watched with covert pleasure as the ice mage's face turned a bright red color and his eyes widened. He began to panic and started to step back in order to move away from her, but he bumped into a table behind him, which successfully frustrated his escape, "That's… That's too much information, Lucy! I didn't need to know that!" The blushing black-haired man tried to move away from the fiery blond, but she didn't allow him to retreat. After a few seconds of staring at the panicking Gray with delight, Lucy leaned forward to whisper in his ear one final remark, "Try to humiliate my fire dragon like that again and I promise you will get such detailed, mind scarring images that you'll develop an inferiority complex that will last you a lifetime, understood?" The ice mage nodded agitatedly as he uttered a shaky "Yes ma'am!"

The stellar mage smiled to herself, glad that she had put an end to Gray's mischief and knowing that this would be the last she, and anyone else, would ever hear about Natsu's underwear again. But she wasn't quite done yet. Without moving from her spot and still incapacitating the ice mage from fleeing, she whispered to him again, "Good. Now, why don't you go tell your best friend what you should have said in the first place instead of starting this, mmm?" Lucy then straightened back up and gave the ice mage a puppy-eye look and a wide innocent smile.

If there was something Gray did not want to do today was to piss the stellar mage off more than she already was, as he realized that that so-called innocent smile and look of hers were everything but innocent. He knew perfectly well she could be as scary as Erza and he already had to deal with that redheaded monster, so he didn't need to add a blond one to the mix. Gray let out the breath he had been holding since Lucy had imprisoned him and, knowing he had already been defeated, he said, "Hey, Fire-bre… I mean, Natsu, congratulations on your… 'dragon engagement,' for lack of a better term." He observed the fire mage with care, that idiot was cunningly grinning back at him as if he had _known _that Lucy would do something like that. Hell, the dragon-slayer had probably heard everything she had whispered to him just seconds ago with that heightened hearing of his. This was clearly not Gray's day, but he was entirely responsible for what had happened to him. After all, he had forgotten the second rule of war: never _ever_ underestimate your opponent. _Who knew that idiot had such a deadly secret weapon under his wings._

"Thanks, man! I appreciate it, but I'll still have to kick your frozen ass for getting too close to my mate, Ice-prick!" came Natsu's reply, as he smirked victoriously over his subdued rival. The fire mage had heard everything that Lucy had said to Gray, and he had to admit that the stellar mage had a particular talent for knowing _exactly_ what buttons to push. It was probably due to the fact that she chose to watch his guildmates when they were fighting instead of joining in on the brawls, which granted her the advantage of cautiously examining each and every one of them from a privileged position when the rest had their guards down.

The fire dragon-slayer knew that all appearances aside, Gray was a very shy man who liked to keep his personal business private. It only took a keen pair of eyes to notice the sort of face the ice mage had every time he realized he was naked in front of his guildmates. That was the reason why the fire mage and, mostly, Cana chose pointing that out to him as one of their preferred methods for messing with him. Natsu had traveled enough with the guy to know that even if he was aware that he was pretty popular with the opposite sex, the bare mention of that fact to him made him blush and stutter. Gray could act like a stud all he wanted, but he was far from one in real life. It wasn't that he didn't know how to act around a girl, but the ice mage was so reserved about his personal life that the mere insinuation that others were aware that he had one made him uncomfortable. Apparently, Lucy knew this as well as the dragon-slayer did, and she had not even hesitated on using it against him. The fire mage could only imagine the level of embarrassment and awkwardness a statement like Lucy's had provoked on his rival. Natsu, on the other hand, could care less about what others thought of his personal life, as long as they didn't disrespect it or threaten his mate. He did what he felt like doing indiscriminately of where he was, or who he was around. That, of course, had led to some pretty public displays of affection, but he only cared if Lucy minded it. And she didn't; in fact, she was the one who started some of them, like the time they had a steamy make out cession at Magnolia's train station.

Natsu had just came back from a one-week solo mission by order of the master, and he had been pleasantly greeted back into the city by a heartwarming hug and a set of soothing pats on the head to ease the effects of his motion sickness. Once he had recuperated, the blond kissed him deeply before even allowing him to speak. It really wasn't necessary; the both of them knew just how much they had missed each other and neither could wait to be wrapped in the other's embrace. An old lady had approached them at that time and, frowning, she had asked if they didn't have any shame. Lucy had simply answered by smirking deviously at her and pulling the fire mage closer for another deep kiss before saying, "I haven't seen my mate for over a week, so if you're so bothered by it, why don't you just turn around and continue on your way, instead of interrupting our long-awaited reunion?" The woman had stayed petrified in her place by the unusually aggressive blond's response, just as Lucy helped him get up from the floor and began walking towards her apartment.

Natsu remembered how he had asked Lucy later on their way home why she had responded to the older lady like that, it really wasn't something she usually liked to do. The blond had simply answered that she was annoyed because the woman already knew why she was at the train station in the first place, and knew perfectly well who she was, and who she was waiting for. She told him the woman was already familiar with the sort of affection they were keen on showing each other once in a while, since she had already tried to admonish her for _allowing_ her pink-haired boyfriend to kiss her so shamelessly in public. The fire dragon-slayer didn't need to ask anything else. He already knew how annoyed Lucy got whenever people butted into her private life like that. She respected others enough to do as they pleased and she expected them to do the same when it came to her. He couldn't blame her, he would have probably been even more pissed off if, aside from the already anxious need to see his mate again after a long period of separation, some stranger had decided to step in and pretended to give him advice on his relationship.

The fire mage snapped back into reality when he heard the ice mage respond to him. He wasn't however expecting that sort of statement. _Damn, Lucy is really not showing any mercy today._

* * *

Gray watched defeatedly as the fire dragon-slayer replied to him. He was about to yell something offensive of his own back at the pink-haired idiot, when he heard Lucy cough next to him and say in a deviously innocent voice, "Aren't you forgetting something, Gray?" The ice mage tensed. Mavis, had this day really _not_ turned out as he had planned it, _Fuck my life._ He took a deep breath before speaking, "Oh, and Natsu?" The fire mage gave him a quizzical look, apparently he hadn't been expecting the ice mage to ignore his provocation, a fact that had been made evident by the "Yes, Gray?" that he gave for an answer. The ice alchemist took another deep breath before speaking again, "I'm sorry for trying to ruin your special day." _This is so messed up. Stupid dragon-slayers, stupid Happy, and stupid Lucy… _Before turning around to return to his seat at his table in the guild, Gray watched as a surprised look appeared on the fire dragon-slayer's face. He smirked momentarily; at least he had managed to unsettle the fire idiot, not in the way he had originally wanted, but that was better than nothing. _Well, I still have the afternoon to look up to,_ he said to himself, as a side grin made its way onto his face.

* * *

Just as the ice mage had begun his retreat, the majority of Fairy Tail's guildmates snapped out of their shock, as if the common bickering between the fire dragon-slayer and the ice mage had managed to break their self-induced stun. Soon enough, the loud festive mood of Fairy Tail returned, as they all yelled a joyous "Congratulations!" in unison and called for a party. The mages to whom the cheer had been directed at smiled back at their guildmates as they watched the guild return to normal. Cana reached for a new barrel of beer and plunged in; Lisanna stepped into the bar and, acting as temporary barmaid, started to pull out liquor bottles and serve her guilmates; Elfman began yelling incomprehensible "Man" related statements as Evergreen screamed back at him for being an idiot; Juvia sat close to her "Gray-sama" and started conversing with him; master Makarov and Laxus resumed their secretly friendly drinking, while Bixlow continued talking about the wonders of female panties to his babies; Wakaba and Macao approached Cana and lunged into their drinks as well; Redus hurried up to his canvas to start painting the scene; and the rest of their guildmates began to cheer for their friends as they chugged down several mugs of beer and proceeded to destroy most of the guildhall's common property.

* * *

Natsu watched as Lucy walked back towards the guild's entrance where he was still standing, waiting for her. As soon as she came close enough, the fire mage grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, lowering his head to nuzzle her neck and whisper a playful "That was evil, Lucy." She giggled and murmured back at him, "What? I like you in your underwear too much to let someone deprive me of that wonderful sight," following her statement with a soft kiss on his cheek, as she leaned onto his body. The dragon-slayer smiled lovingly back at her and kissed her forehead in return. He wouldn't say it to her right now, but he was seriously thankful that she had intervened on his behalf and helped him save face with his guildmates. It would have taken him too many beatings, several displays of brute masculine power, and an indiscriminate amount of time to achieve the same Lucy had just managed to accomplish in a few minutes. Furthermore, his guildmates seemed to have remained oblivious of her devious meddling with Gray, since she had been careful enough to whisper her threats for only him (and the three dragon-slayers) to hear. Besides all that, Natsu found her possessive side extremely sexy, and he reveled on it every time it surfaced. He chuckled as he leaned to whisper to her again, "But, you know, it really turned me on." Instantaneously, he felt her pull away from him and slap his arm as she gave him an angry look, "Natsu! Not in front of Happy!"

The fire mage simply laughed at her reaction and pulled her back towards him, just as he felt Happy stirring in his other arm and call out their names. Both mages turned to look at him, "I'm sorry Lucy, Natsu. I promise I won't ever do anything like that to either of you again," he said regretfully, getting the blue ribbon he had taken earlier from Lucy's apartment from his backpack and handing it back to her. The stellar mage smiled genuinely at him, taking the ribbon with her free hand before petting his furry head affectionately. "And I am also very happy for you," Happy said again with a smile of his own, leaning into Lucy's caress, and purring in response to her soothing touch. Shortly after, once he had had enough of the stellar mage's ministrations, Happy flew away from the fire mage's embrace, congratulating them again, and making his way to where Wendy and Charle were still seating. _I should ask Wendy how she knew now._

* * *

_Well, I'll be damned,_ Gajeel said to himself, _Bunny Girl really did a number on that Stripper. _For once in his life, he had listened to what Natsu had asked and he had remained still and quiet observing the fire dragon-slayer's mate in her "possessive stage," as the pink-haired male had pointed it out to his cat. The iron mage had heard every word she had said to Gray and he had enjoyed every bit of the ice mage's reaction as much as either Natsu or Lucy had, or perhaps even more than both them. Oh, how he couldn't wait to be the one doing just that to his miserable and unsuspecting victims. He had also been keeping an eye on Levy as she watched her blond friend protect her mate's honor, and he had been very pleased to notice the bluenette had actually smiled back at her friend and whispered a "You show him, Lu-chan!" She had, furthermore, unconsciously squeezed his hand as if trying to give her friend encouragement. Gajeel loved it; the quiet little blue-haired mage was a secret demon in the making. He wondered if he would regret turning her into a deadly one later in life. There were enough freaky women in the guild to add another, but he quickly tossed that thought aside, as he decided that he liked that spunky side of hers she tried to keep a secret from everyone else. _I guess I find it… cute._

The iron dragon-slayer was brought back to reality when the pink-haired mage turned his way and yelled at him, smirking smugly, "Hey, Metal-head, I see you finally got your scared-to-death iron scales together to claim Levy, huh?"

_Damn that fire-breathing idiot, he always does seem to get ahead of me with these things. _He fixed his red eyes on the fire mage's as he annoyingly spit back, "Tch, shut up Fire-ass. I didn't say anything about your _desperate_ howls for that ring, now did I?"

Both dragon-slayers stared into each other's eyes, recognizing that newfound taunting amusement in both of their gazes that had become so characteristic of their interactions lately, and which they thought no one else could identify but them. They were soon corrected from this mistake as both of their mates hit their shoulders lightly and they heard Lucy say, "Oh, just stop pretending you two are not genuinely happy for one another already," which was immediately followed by a "You can't fool us, you know?" from Levy.

Both dragon-slayers turned to look at their respective mate with an amusedly surprised look. There really wasn't anyone else who could read them as well as those two girls did. The fire mage seriously wondered just how he had managed to keep his intentions a secret from the blond for more than a day, while the iron mage questioned just how he could have been so blind to the undeniable chemistry that existed between him and the blue-haired script mage. Natsu laughed wholeheartedly as he nonchalantly scratched the back of his head with his left hand and tightened his hold of Lucy's waist with his right, just as Gajeel simultaneously looked away from the group and squeezed Levy's hand as he said, "Tch, whatever." The girls laughed at the dragon-slayers' expected reactions and proceeded to congratulate one another for their news. They were about to leave their men to go sit at a secluded table to talk to each other about the new developments in their lives, when Natsu spoke again and prevented them from leaving.

The fire dragon-slayer turned to look at Gajeel amusedly, "Hey, Metal-head, one more thing. Now that I've congratulated you for claiming Levy, it is only fair that I threaten to strip you from each and every one of those piercings you have on your body if you ever hurt her in any way." The iron mage glared back at him menacingly, bringing the blue-haired mage closer to him as he untangled his fingers from hers and moved his arm to her shoulders to envelop her possessively. "As if, Fire-breath! Not a chance, but if you're threatening me, then I'll threaten you back!" he replied. The pink-haired mage smirked back at him, but before he could return the iron mage's threat, he heard Lucy speak, "That wont be necessary Gajeel. Erza and Gray have already promised to skin him alive if he even dared to make me cry. Plus, most of my spirits would be happy to partake in the reaping." She paused for a second and sighed before continuing, "But, if you really feel like you _must_ release some testosterone and impose your masculinity somewhere, why don't you go threaten Gray?" Natsu looked back at his mate taken somewhat aback by her words, _Jeez, Lucy is truly relentless. She must really like those pairs of underwear... which could only mean... I must definitely get the spitting fire dragons one!_ Gajeel, for his part, made a note to himself to _never_ cross the blond stellar mage, _Man, is this woman vindictive!_

As if knowing what the two dragon-slayers were thinking, Lucy spoke again, "What?" she began, "I'm only pointing out the obvious. If you all men need to harass the other about their women, then the only one who can threaten Gray is Gajeel."

The iron mage turned to look at her, noticing the other two mages were not as confused as he was, "What are you talking about Bunny Girl?" The stellar mage sighed before addressing Gajeel again, "What do you mean 'What are you talking about Bunny Girl'? Gray has been seeing Juvia for the past two months. He thinks no one knows about it, but the entire guild knows." She paused for a moment, reconsidering her statement and fixing her eyes on the iron dragon-slayer's again, "Well, apparently not _everyone_ does, since you _clearly_ were oblivious to the whole thing." Gajeel's expression changed, revealing his devious self from earlier that day once more. He let go of the script mage and patted her softly on the head in his characteristic way. "Just wait for me right here," he said, "I'll be right back," he concluded, before he began to make his way towards the ice mage's table.

As Gajeel was about to walk away, he heard Natsu ask Lucy why she had told him about Gray and Juvia, successfully forcing him to stop and finish listening to their conversation. "I thought he knew… He would've found out sooner or later, though. And I'm pretty sure he would have reacted the same way as he is now," Lucy replied. Levy spoke shortly after, "I agree with Lu-chan. Besides, I don't think it's okay for Gray to keep their relationship a secret. It is not fair for Juvia. I wouldn't have liked it if Gajeel had asked me to keep us a secret." Natsu sighed; he knew the girls were right. Gajeel would have beaten the Ice-prick up sooner or later for it. Besides, he was way too proud of his own relationship to even consider keeping it a secret; he couldn't understand why Gray would. As far as he was concerned, the more people who knew about him and Lucy, the better. It equaled more fun and less perverts to pulverize. He understood the ice mage was a lot more reserved than he was. Hell, aside from the idiotic Metal-freak, there was probably no other male who cared less about the general public's opinion than himself. Gray didn't need to tell the entire world who he was "dating," or be overly affectionate towards her, but he did need to acknowledge her in some respect and give her the place she deserved, especially among his friends and guildmates. Before leaving the vicinity of the three other mages, the iron mage turned to them and said, "Bunny Girl is right, I would have done the exact same thing today or tomorrow. Now, if you would excuse me..." and with that, he quickened his pace towards the ice mage.

"Poor Ice-breath, this is really not his lucky day," Natsu said as he watched the iron dragon-slayer approach Gray and start acting out the fourth shocking scene of the day.

* * *

So, how was it? I hope I wasn't too cruel to poor old Gray... and Erza hasn't even woken up yet. And is Mira really out for the count? Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and next chapter Erza will be definitely making an appearance.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone! Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and alerts. Like always, you make my day! I was kind of worried I'd made Lucy look out of character last chapter. I'm glad you didn't seem to think so, so special thanks for reviewing chapter 6 for me. Also, my apologies to all of reviewers for chapter 5, I got confused with my chapters when I was replying to you and kept talking about chapter 7 when I meant chapter 6. Sigh. I hope I didn't confused you all with my own sorry confusion...

_Iofra - _Thanks for both of your reviews! My main concern for chapter 5 was to keep up a balance between humor and romance as I worked my way out of the two heavily romantic chapters (3&4) to get into the primarily comedy ones (6&7) where all hell breaks loose. And yeah, both guys got what they wanted already, but I still have some things up my sleeve to where things are going to go. I hope you stick around to find out.

Tsuki. Raven - I just _had_ to address your review here. I had actually just finished writing the beginning of this chapter when I got your review, and I was like "Holy shit! This person is reading my mind!" I had every intention of giving some attention to Wendy, that's why I brought her up last chapter. I hope that what you see in this chapter is up to your liking... So, I guess that part goes out to you :)

Oh, before I forget, I went back to chapter 6 and worked up a bit the last scene. The general idea didn't change, but I think it looks a lot better now, so you might want to go back to reread it. :D

What to expect for this chapter? Well, Gajeel needs to show someone a lesson, and, as promised, both Erza and Mira are coming back to life and they are not in their best of moods... Let their wrath sail forward!

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 7:

Happy made his way back to the table where Wendy and Charle were still sitting calmly. The state of the two mages highly contrasted the rest of his Fairy Tail guildmates, who had, in a thirty-minute period, been shocked to their wits ends, half-blinded, made to lose their consciousness, irrevocably silenced, threatened to be scorched or nailed to death, rendered deaf for a few moments, and who were now in the process of getting way too drunk, yelling loudly, and fighting one another. The blue Exceed landed smoothly on the wooden surface and gave both females a kind smile. He was really curious about the blue-haired mage's composed demeanor, and so, he didn't waste any time in asking her what had been dwelling in his mind since he had left them earlier to settle things with Natsu and Lucy, "Eh, Wendy? How did you know what Natsu and Gajeel were planning?" Happy watched as the sky dragon-slayer locked eyes with him, smiling back at him before responding. "I see you noticed," she began, in a deceptive monotone voice, "I have known since the moment Gajeel-san approached Natsu-san a few days ago to ask him for a favor." Happy gave her a confused look in return, furrowing his thin eyebrows. "A favor?" he asked, almost immediately. The girl giggled, "Yes, a favor. You see, they were actually trying to be very secretive about it all, but the two of them forget that I'm a dragon-slayer, too, and just like them, I have better hearing than your average human."

The blue cat would have never believed it if he hadn't witnessed it with his own two eyes right that moment. Wendy was actually giving him a sly grin as she spoke, a feature that told him that she was _very_ conscious of her win over the two oblivious males and that she was _clearly_ enjoying this undisputed victory over them. In a way, she reminded him of Natsu and Gajeel when they came up on top after a fight. _Oh, this girl is sneaky. What else has she heard and kept quiet about?_ Happy returned the blue-haired mage's knowing smile with one of his own mischievous grins, "You know, Wendy, you are not as innocent as you pretend to be." The girl giggled once more as he continued to speak, "You are _definitely_ a proud Fairy Tail mage, let me tell you. Is being this devious engraved in all you dragon-slayers' DNA, or is it just a coincidence all three of you share this particular trait?" Both Happy and Wendy openly laughed at his rhetorical question; the first knowing perfectly well that he'd never get an answer to that question – he had harassed Natsu to no avail for long enough to know that –, and the second knowing perfectly well that she'd never reveal that mystery to anyone – where'd be the fun in that, then?

Their joyful laughter was interrupted when Charle decided to cut into their conversation with an annoyed proclamation of her own, "Those two male dragon-slayers are nothing but bad influences on Wendy. They are too loud, irresponsible, possessive, and idiotic, among other things, and their behavior has rubbed off on her. She didn't use to be this way. Unacceptable." The other two mages turned to look at her, neither letting their smile to falter, since both of them knew she enjoyed being at Fairy Tail more than she would ever be willing to admit out loud. Happy still decided to respond to her playful accusation, "Well, one thing I can say for sure is that all those… _qualities_ will come in handy whenever a male decides to come onto Wendy with romantic intentions." All three mages couldn't resist laughing boisterously at the blue cat's statement. They were all perfectly aware that the second anyone showed that sort of interest in the younger dragon-slayer, the overly possessive and protective side of the older ones would automatically turn itself on, just as it did for their mates. They all prematurely pitied the poor soul who would dare approach her: Charle, because, aside from all the intimidation the male dragon-slayers would be doing, she had every intention of making sure all undesirable suitors scrammed out the door before they even got the chance to say a single word to her friend. Happy, because he knew Natsu (and he assumed Gajeel as well) truly cared for the blue-haired girl and considered her somewhat of a younger sister, and, just like he did with Lucy, he would revel at any opportunity he got to harass others and beat them senseless without having to face serious repercussions for it. Wendy, because she knew perfectly well just to what extremes the two older dragon-slayers would go to intimidate her possible mates, and she just couldn't wait to have a little fun of her own messing with both her suitors and her older "dragon brothers." A devilishly amused grin appeared in all of their faces as they each thought of the possible entertainment that would be featured in Fairy Tail once Wendy decided she was ready for mating.

Somewhere around the guild, Romeo was taken over by a foreboding feeling of dread and a terrible shrill went down his spine. _What the heck was that?_ he wondered. He shortly after shrugged it off and continued to sip on some beer as he watched Cana humiliate his father at another drinking contest. Again.

The three mages' laughing came to a sudden stop when they heard someone punch another of their guildmates close to where they were sitting. As their attention switched towards the commotion, they realized Gajeel had just given Gray a straight hit on the jaw and the latter had been knocked down off his seat. Neither Wendy nor the two Exceeds required an explanation to figure out what had provoked the incident. Still, shortly after they had turned to look at the new little spectacle taking place at the guild, the iron dragon-slayer, who was glaring daggers at the fallen mage, voiced his reasons for the assault and issued the threat they had all been expecting to hear any day now. Happy flipped his wings open and, saying his goodbyes to both females, flew away towards the two raven-haired mages with a devious grin that spelled trouble. Wendy's eyes lingered on him momentarily before she returned her attention to the ever-serious Charle, _That cat will never learn. I guess the temptation to mess with Gray is too high for Happy to withstand. Then again, he wouldn't really be Happy if he stopped annoying everyone around him every chance he got._

* * *

Gray was lying on the floor with a bemused expression on his face, his hand rubbing the check Gajeel had just punched without even a word for warning. "What the fuck, Metal-head?" he finally managed to spit out, as he began to lift himself from the floor and steady himself in a sitting position on the ground.

Gajeel didn't even hesitate replying, "That's for keeping your relationship with the Water Woman a secret. We honestly could care less if you're reserved or not about your private life, Ice-prick, but if your going to date a guild member, and a _friend_ at that, I'd expect you to at least show her the respect she deserves and tell us, your guildmates, about it." Before speaking again, the iron dragon-slayer took the time to observe – and thoroughly delight in – the shocked face the ice mage, who hadn't moved from his spot on the floor, was currently displaying. The poor sucker had probably thought he had really succeeded in keeping his relationship with Juvia a secret. In part, Gajeel berated himself for not realizing it earlier. He had noticed their scents lingering around each other more often and more intensely, but he had just assumed that was due to the fact that the water mage was always sure to keep close to the raven-haired man. If the Bunny Girl was right with the timeframe, he had also missed the exact moment when the two had gotten together, since he had been away on a long mission that had kept him from the guild for over two weeks. When he had returned to Fairy Tail, he was tired and desperately needing to inhale the blue-haired script mage's scent he had been deprived of for so long. He should have known about the two mages getting closer, but, perhaps, his own conflicted mind, which continued to trouble him over and over about Levy at the time, had incapacitated him from doing so. Regardless of the reason why he had failed to notice before, the iron dragon-slayer was going to make sure he compensated his comrade for the two months she had spent hiding for what he had overlooked.

"Listen to me carefully, Stripping-popsicle," Gajeel seethed dangerously, "Break her heart, and I'll break each and every bone in your miserable body, got it?" He watched the astounded mage nod his head in understanding and then turned his attention to the water mage who was standing close by with an appreciative expression, her eyes watery and her lips smiling lightly. He gave her a nod of recognition and a slight grin. Before he even made an attempt to walk away and return to his mate, he heard her say in a partial stutter, "Gajeel-kun, Juvia is grateful. Juvia also considers you a friend." He locked eyes with her once more and nodded again. Without another word, he then started his walk back towards the guild's entrance._ Damn these Fairy Tail fairies. I'm becoming the biggest softie in Earthland._

Gray watched the retreating figure of the iron mage still too stunned to get up from his spot on the guildhall's floor. What the fuck had just happened? Did Gajeel just seriously punch him for keeping a secret relationship with Juvia? Did the Metal-freak honestly call her his friend? Had he woken up in a parallel universe or something? No, the searing pain in his cheek was proof enough that he wasn't dreaming. Gray knew Gajeel had really changed once he had joined Fairy Tail and the dragon-slayer had truly earned his place among them. He belonged now; he was nakama. The ice mage, shortly after, remembered how it had been Juvia who had suggested to master Makarov to let Gajeel join their guild, and his eyes widened as he realized why the iron mage had punched him with all his strength. The dragon-slayer _owed_ Juvia for her intercession on his behalf, and if Gray was honest with himself, he deserved that punch and perhaps a few more.

The ice mage knew keeping his relationship with Juvia secret hadn't been the best decision he had made in his life, but he had wanted to make sure they were both in the same page before telling the rest of their friends the nature of their relationship had changed. He had assumed that if things didn't end up working out between them and nobody knew about them in the first place, it would have been easier for the both of them to return to how they were before they started dating. It seemed logical, but perhaps Gray had been lying to himself. There was no way in hell anything would revert back to how it was before them dating if their relationship failed. The ice mage scowled disapprovingly at himself; he had been the one who had taken the initiative, for Deliora's ugly frozen skull! As the ice alchemist moved his hand to rub his swollen cheek, he realized he had been undeniably selfish by requesting Juvia to remain quiet about them. His own need to keep his life simple had blinded him from seeing that instead of protecting the water mage like he had actually wanted to do, his actions had ended up hurting her. He seriously had some apologizing to do, and he vowed to himself, as he continued to rub his sore cheek, that he would go above and beyond to show Juvia, in private – he would never be so bold as to do what Natsu and Lucy did half the time –, just how much he enjoyed her company.

The pain in his cheek brought Gray back to reality as he focused his attention on the mage responsible for it. He observed the scene developing at the guild's entrance with care. Natsu holding Lucy's waist possessively while the blond chatted amiably with Levy – _Normal_ –, the Fire-idiot ginning as if he had won the Great Magic Games all on his own – _Irritably_ _Normal –,_ Gajeel smirking back at Natsu and the two high-fiving – _Not Normal –._ The ice mage was so shocked he didn't even realize he was voicing his thoughts, "What the fuck? Since when do Metal-head and Fire-breath peacefully engage in conversation? … Forget about that, since when do the fire and iron Dragon-asses exchange anything else, other than insults, punches, and kicks? Something is _so_ definitely not right here!"

Too lost in his own bewildered thoughts, Gray failed to notice the blue cat that had managed to make his way towards him and was now standing next to the flabbergasted mage. Happy tsked, "Gray, Gray, Gray, you are sooo~ slow!" he said in a mocking singsong tone. Before continuing, he poked the ice mage on the chest with his paw to add to his teasing, and increased the volume of his voice, "Get with the program already!" The Exceed's words caught the ice alchemist's attention and he turned to acknowledge the devious flying feline. "What the hell do you mean?" he asked, once he had managed to finally snap out of his stupor. His question, however, fell on deaf ears, since the blue cat had already found something else occurring at the back of the guild that he deemed much more worthy of his time and had already taken flight towards it. _Stupid annoying cat!_

"Gray-sama, are you okay?" the ice mage heard Juvia ask as she extended a hand to help him get up from the floor. He smiled back at her, deciding to focus his attention on her and leave the weird interactions of the two dragon-slayers and the bothersome blue cat for some other time. "Yes, thanks Juvia," he replied as he took her hand and stood up, "I'm sorry for keeping us a secret. Why don't I make it up to you later tonight during our date?" Juvia smiled genuinely back at him and nodded, "Juvia would like that." Without letting go of her hand, the ice mage walked towards another table. They sat together and their conversation faded into the ruckus of the guild, whose members were getting drunker, louder, and more destructive.

* * *

Erza woke up with a terrible headache. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but the last thing she remembered was Gray crashing onto her with a shocked expression and causing her delicious slice of cake, that she had barely touched and enjoyed, to slip from her grasp and land on the floor. She scowled, _My precious cake! Damn that Gray..._ The Requip mage then took a glance at the guild, realizing it was in a bigger mess than she had seen in a very long time, "What the…" However, she couldn't finish her thought, as she was quickly interrupted by a voice to her right, "Oh, hi Erza! You're finally awake!" The redheaded woman redirected her attention towards the speaking voice. "What the hell happened here?" she asked agitatedly and with a tinge of irritation in her voice. The figure responded with a faux relaxed and unpretentious tone, "Oh, I guess you were asleep and didn't get to see what happened." Erza gave her guildmate a quizzical look in return, "Explain. Now." The blue feline obliged, just as he tried his best to hide the devious smirk that had been forcing its way onto his face the second he had seen her rising up from the dead, "Well, …"

* * *

Levy watched as her mate made his way back towards her. She couldn't say she was surprised; Juvia had been the first person to show Gajeel kindness after Metalicana left, and she knew he cared for the water mage more than he let on. The iron mage was a man of principles, whether he cared to acknowledge it or not, and he would make sure to show others the same gratitude they showed him. However, the script mage was also painfully aware that the iron dragon-slayer had his faults as well, like that over-confident ego of his. She knew it was precisely that pride what had driven Gajeel into his current rivalry with Mira, regardless of whether she knew the details of it or not. To complicate matters further, he clearly thought he had already won, but he couldn't be more wrong. Levy had known the white-haired barmaid for a long time. Mirajane was barely done with him; and after seeing her face before passing out, the bluenette knew she would be beyond murderous wrath when she woke up. She sighed, _What have you gotten yourself into, Gajeel?_

Up until that moment, the blue-haired script mage had remained quiet and observant as things unfolded before her. She had to admit that she found it all pretty entertaining. She had managed to secretly let out a laugh or two the day Natsu had claimed Lucy, but being one of the actors was way more fun than just an spectator. Granted, today had been a lot more hectic than the previous announcement day, with Gajeel and Lucy devastating their opponents right off the bat, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that there was some part within her that truly ached to be one of the participants. At any rate, Levy knew that, even if she had wanted to, she couldn't have remained a spectator forever. And she would be forced into action rather sooner than latter all thanks to Gajeel's boisterous mocking of the Take-over sibling. That is, if she wanted to still have a breathing mate once Mira resuscitated. It didn't take long for her neurons to start their synapsing and, soon, her brain began working on a non-violent solution to her imminent and present problem.

* * *

"So, you're telling me that," the redheaded mage stated, grinding her teeth and fisting her hands, "One, I missed someone putting Gray in his place for keeping his relationship with Juvia a secret,_ I have increased respect for Gajeel now_; two, I missed my guildmates announcing their new relationship, _Finally! For all the jewels in Fiore!_ and; furthermore, three, I missed my best friend's engagement to one of my childhood friends?" _Woah, those two were clearly not kidding when they said it was serious._

"Aye!" Happy replied.

The gleeful, one-word response made Erza further squint in anger. She scanned the guild again, her eyes landing on an empty plate that had leftover crumbs of some sugary treat someone had eaten hours prior to the dragon-slayers' entrance. Her fists tightened. "And I missed the celebration cake, too!" she bitterly added. The last statement confused Happy momentarily, but he soon found where her eyes had led her, his own orbs widening as he realized what the redhead had just said. However, he had no time to correct the Requip mage for her erroneous conclusion, since he then heard her yell in a deafening and menacing voice that made him cower in his place at the guild's bar.

"Fullbuster!~"

Along with everyone else in Fairy Tail, said mage turned to look at the enraged redheaded demon as she requipped into her Purgatory Armor and pointed its menacing humongous sword in his direction. Gray gulped, turning to eye Juvia before he got up from his seat and bolted out of the guild as fast as he could, "Sorry Juvia, I think we're gonna have to reschedule our date for some other day." The ice mage had enough time to see the blue feline next to Erza fix his eyes on him as he prepared to escape, and heard him utter, "Have fun Gray!" _Damn you, you devious cat! You'll pay for this!_ And with that last thought, he ran out of Fairy Tail faster than he had ever ran in his life; and as he sprinted for his life through Magnolia, he considered that his current speed would give that Oración Seis mage, Racer, a run for his money, literally. He heard the accursed woman yell his name again along with some profanities, and he forced his legs to move even faster._ This is really not my lucky day… at all. What did I ever do to deserve this?_

Erza lost not time in chasing after her prey. She watched him scram out of the guild faster than you could say "Sorry," and she moved forward towards Fairy Tail's exit. She stopped momentarily when she reached the doors, turning to face the two couples standing there, "Congratulations to you all. I am very happy for you and I am sorry for missing your good news. You may punish me for it upon my return," – she cracked her knuckles –, "but I need to do some punishing of my own first. So, if you'll excuse me…" Without waiting for an answer from the four mages standing there, Erza requipped into her Flight Armor and began her pursuit, "Gray Fullbuster, I'm going to make you wish you were dead!"

* * *

Natsu watched the iron dragon-slayer as he dealt with Gray. He had actually been surprised to realize Gajeel had no idea that Gray and Juvia were dating. It had taken him a day to figure it out. His suspicions had been proven correct three days later during a job, in which Natsu had taken the opportunity to question the off-guarded ice mage and he had managed to obtain a corroborative answer. Of course, Gray hadn't even noticed that he had just given away his relationship status to the fire mage. Mavis, could the Ice-prick be oblivious at times! For a second, Natsu wondered just how long it would had taken Gray to figure out he and Lucy had become mates if he hadn't ran into the guild and shouted it out for all Magnolia to know. He knew Erza, Mirajane, and Levy would have noticed the difference the moment they'd set eyes on the pair. He had assumed Gajeel would have been one of the first to realize it, too. Now, he wasn't that sure. To be fair, the iron mage had been distracted lately, probably because of his refusal to accept his own feelings for the script mage. Still, Natsu had presumed Gajeel would have been one of the first to find out, never the last.

In spite of his rather late realization, Natsu admitted Gajeel had actually managed to expediently collect his thoughts, and when he had reached Gray, he acted exactly as he should have. He hadn't beaten the ice mage beyond recognition or given him a lecture. Instead, the iron dragon-slayer had focused his strength on one good punch and had used his words wisely. By acting that way, Gray would surely never confuse his actions as a playful excuse for a fight between guildmates. Gajeel had been blunt and serious enough to cause the desired effect on the ice alchemist, and Natsu knew the Popsicle's rather frozen brain had gotten the message loud and clear. It was his own damn fault anyway, and he had it longtime coming. Of course, the second Gajeel had returned to their little posse at the guild's entrance, Natsu had wasted no time in giving the iron mage an approving nod and an amused grin. For the first time ever, the two dragon-slayers had actually seen eye-to-eye on a public matter and they had mentally accorded to celebrate their victory with a rather loud high-five and a mischievous mutual chuckle.

It wasn't too long after Gajeel had found this way back to the guild's entrance and had coiled his arm around his mate, that Natsu felt the air in the guild change, becoming suddenly aware of a rather menacing presence there. Instantaneously, his grip on the blond tightened and the fire mage brought her closer to him. A focused countenance replaced his relaxed one, and he began examining the guild. He stopped when his eyes reached the figure of Erza. He hadn't seen her before that day, even if he had smelled her scent when he had arrived at Fairy Tail. The redhead was clearly angry, since she was surrounded by a deadly aura that kept increasing as the seconds went by. He noticed the little blue figure next to her, and before he was able to put two and two together, the woman had yelled, with a wrath he had seldom heard in her, the name of the person on whom she would be unleashing hell. Never in his life had Natsu been so glad his last name was not Fullbuster. By the way the redheaded mage looked right now, he would have rather fought Hades by himself again. The way he saw it, there were more chances of him coming out alive of that one. The ice mage had lost no time in rushing out of the guild at a speed Natsu didn't think he was capable of, discarding his shirt somewhere in the process of apologizing to Juvia for having to cancel their date and murdering Happy with his venomous gaze. Next thing the fire dragon-slayer knew, Gray was gone, his pants flying up in the air and slapping Elfman on the face, and Erza was in front of him, bowing and asking for his forgiveness before she gave chase to the dead mage fleeing.

Natsu gathered his thoughts and found Happy in the midst of his shocked and trembling guildmates. The devious little cat was back to his usual self, wearing a smile of absolute contentment on his face. What exactly had he said to Erza? _This kid will never learn. _"Happy!" Natsu yelled in a serious tone. He really needed to explain to his adorably charming and gleeful fur ball that messing with people like that was not okay. _Damn it, Natsu, stop calling him "charming," "adorable," and "gleeful!" Focus!_

The blue Exceed heard his foster father call his name. He knew he was probably in trouble, though he hadn't _technically_ caused Erza's vengeful demon to come out. "What?" he said, once he was close enough to the fire mage and his mate. He didn't want to scream and he didn't want others to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"What exactly did you tell her, Happy?" came Natsu's expected question. The blue cat perched himself on the pink-haired mage's left arm and turned to look at him, "Nothing. I just told her what had happened while she was unconscious... She asked me to tell her... She was the one who jumped to conclusions about the cake, though." The fire mage gave him an unconvinced look. He knew perfectly well it was no coincidence that Happy had been sitting right next to the waking Erza. No way in hell. "Happy," he began, still with a serious and chastising tone, "didn't you promise less than an hour ago to never mess with people like that again?" The blue feline stared back at the mage with a knowingly devious look, and soon enough, a Machiavellian side grin appeared on his face, "I said I would never do that to _you_ or _Lucy_ again, I _never_ said anything about Gray." Natsu sighed, there was no way this cat would change his ways. Ever. Although, he had to admit that his blue-furred son was smarter than people gave him credit for. "You'll never learn. You do know he's going to kill you when he gets the chance, right?" he finally said, dropping the seriousness in his voice and exchanging it for a more playful tone. Happy nodded as he echoed the fire mage's tone, "Maybe. But Lucy would never let him do that." Natsu raised a quizzical eyebrow, "Is that so?" he asked, but this time fixing his onyx eyes on his mate's brown orbs. The blond mage, who had remained silent, observing the yet again amusing father-son interaction of the two males, responded almost instantaneously, as if the question had the most obvious of answers, "Of course not! I know you consider Happy as a son or a younger brother, and that makes him family. No way I'm going to let anyone harm my family. Besides, we all know Happy gives an entirely new meaning to the word 'annoying,' so Gray will have to learn to live with it, just like the rest of us." Both mages smiled genuinely back at her, both thinking how lucky they truly were to have the most caring person they had ever met as a part of their lives. "Aye!" Happy responded, getting off from Natsu's arm so he could give the stellar mage his best own effort at a hug. Lucy giggled as she felt the furry cat nesting in her bosom and moved her free hand to scratch his head affectionately.

The fire dragon-slayer watched the two people closest to him interacting. It was ridiculously obvious that Lucy would understand his feelings towards Happy, just like she did about Igneel. She had never questioned, not even for a second, the notion that he considered a big, red-scaled dragon his father. She had been shocked and frightened by the mention of the majestic creatures for sure, but she had never doubted they were capable of caring for a human being once Natsu had told her that had been the case with him. He smiled to himself as he continued to observe the two cuddling mages. After a brief moment, Natsu lowered his head to bring himself even closer to the blond. He nuzzled the mage's neck softly as he inhaled her divine scent. He raised his eyes to reach hers, and when her gaze found his, he whispered, "I can't wait for us to decide we are both ready to increase the number of this little family of ours." The fire dragon-slayer watched as her eyes widened momentarily at his comment, but soon reversed back to their original size with an added shine in them that told him she agreed. They were both still young, there were many places they still wanted to see, their thirst for adventure hadn't been quenched yet, they still desired to become better mages, he still wanted to give it a try to go and find Igneel, she still wanted to acquire more knowledge for her book. All that aside, he knew that one day, both of them would be satisfied with their individual and communal achievements and when that day came, they would be ready to start a family of their own. They would share with their children everything they managed to learn in those years. They would teach them how to use magic as well as they did, to love it as much as they did. They'd tell them infinite tales of their adventures together and encourage them to go and live their own adventures as well. They weren't ready to embark on that mission just yet though, but they would be, sometime in the future. Natsu closed the ephemeral gap between them and claimed ownership over her lips dominantly. His left hand made its way to the back of her neck and he buried his fingers in her soft tresses, pulling softly on them as he fisted his hand and deepened the already ever-scorching kiss.

Sensing the mood change, Happy chose to leave the pair before they entirely forgot he was there and ended up trapping and, consequently, suffocating him between their two bodies. He chose not to make any comments as he flew away, since he had been absolutely honest with his foster father earlier. Whether anyone else cared to notice or not, Happy had really learned a valuable lesson that day, and just like Lucy and Natsu would protect their family with teeth and nails, so would he. He was genuinely happy to know that Natsu would never really be alone again, and glad that he had chosen Lucy to keep him company for the rest of his life. The blue cat loved the obnoxious blond a lot, and he thought her weirdness worked pretty well with Natsu's extravagant behavior. They would always be a great team. If Happy had to bet his entire fish reserve on something, he'd do it on the fact that life would certainly never have a dull moment with those two around.

* * *

Gajeel had watched Gray sprint out of the guild faster than he had ever seen him run, quickly followed by an Erza who had been so angry she was probably steaming. He had definitely been right when he had assumed the Titania would be fuming when she woke up. Even if he was still pretty pissed off with the ice mage for his lack of judgment regarding Juvia, he couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for the guy. Most of the time, the woman restrained her strength admirably; she was particularly good at using only the necessary magical power for the task at hand. The redhead could be brutal when she wanted to, he knew that well enough, and when she had stopped to apologize to their little group before chasing after Gray, he had seen that determined look she only used on her enemies. The ice mage would be definitely getting the beating of his life. Apparently, whoever was in charge of spreading luck around Earthland didn't care much for the ice alchemist. _Poor stripper, I'm sure he's seen better days._

The iron mage was now staring at the sickly display of affection the fire dragon-slayer and his mate were putting on. It really surprised him how the pink-haired mage could turn pretty much every occasion he found into one to start touching the blond. Natsu wasn't too explicit with his actions though; at least the guy had enough sense to know there were places and times for everything in this life. Gajeel, however, was a little jealous of his situation, and just as he was pondering about that, he realized he was an idiot who deserved to be hit hard on the head with one of his own metal swords. There was no need for him to continue to be miserably wistful and to whisper low profanities anymore; he now had his own lady mate to shower with his own inappropriate forms of affection. Boy, could he be slow at times. He was freaking holding onto her as if his life depended on it, and he still hadn't noticed. _No wonder the Salamander continues to have the upper hand..._

Gajeel hated to admit it, but the fire mage seemed to have gotten the grasps of things rather quickly. On his defense, he had just claimed Levy after a long period of overwhelming and confusing emotions. Who knew how the pink-haired moron had reacted exactly before and after claiming the Bunny Girl; he had certainly made sure not to tell anyone about it. Now that the iron dragon-slayer thought about it, the fire-breather seemed to prove, more and more each time, that he was really not a stupid idiot at all, but someone who had, for some reason or another, a rather firm hold of his life and the things that occurred in it. Gajeel couldn't blame the guy for not sharing those moments of his life with anyone else; he would have done the exact same thing. There seemed to be a sort of inner voice that kept telling him those intimate moments he spent with his mate were to be his and hers alone. He knew he felt a newfound sense of comfortableness with Levy no one else had ever provided for him before, Metalicana included. One that invited him to shed all of his armor off, both emotional and physical, knowing that this other part of him, that other whole of him, would be completely protected in her hands. It was as if she was aware of how difficult it was for him to share that part of himself, as if she understood that no one else was meant to see it but her. Whatever the reason, the iron dragon-slayer knew he wouldn't share what had happened on that bench at Magnolia's park with anyone. And once he had figured that out, he came to a bigger realization. Both the pink-haired mage and his mate had been respectful of that precise intimacy between himself and the bluenette. They had congratulated him and Levy and even joked around a bit, but they had never pried into the details of the encounter. The more time passed, the more Gajeel found himself acquiring a new sense of respect for the fire dragon-slayer. He had always respected Natsu for his unbelievable, almost mechanical control of his dragon-slayer magic - something he would never, _ever_ admit to anyone in any way, shape, or form –, but now, he was beginning to admire him as a person as well. The iron dragon-slayer was now very consciously glad that he had managed to get over his own pride and approached the fire mage. Perhaps, that moment had really been the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The iron mage was brought out of his thoughts when he heard some fearsome scream that demanded his head on a spear. Oh, yes, _that_ woman had already woken up. _Fuck._ He only needed to redirect his gaze at Natsu to understand the high level of threat he was about to face. The pink-haired fire mage had already moved the blond protectively behind him and his love-struck face had been replaced by a concentrated and menacing glare at the mage ahead, it was a very serious glare that said something around the lines of "I don't give a fuck who you are, touch her, and I'll rip you apart." The fire dragon-slayer was just about ready to jump and attack his own guildmate, that's just how deep into the rage Mirajane had really gone this time. Gajeel hadn't noticed at first, but he had done something similar, and Levy was now standing behind him with his left arm keeping her from stepping forward.

"Gajeel Redfox, who the _fuck_ do you think you are, huh?"

Oh, yes, the Take-over mage was definitely very, very... _very_ angry. She had already started activating her Satan Soul and her blue eyes showed nothing but burning hate. _Fuck, fuck, fuck._ Then, he smelled it, the distinct stench of urine – some of his guildmates would definitely need a change of underwear later. The iron dragon-slayer went through his chances of survival: Erza was gone to murder Gray, her two siblings were stunned dead (in fact, it seemed as if Lisanna had actually fainted from shock), heck, even Laxus and Makarov seemed to have trembled a little and were not moving even an inch._ Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck._ When was he going to learn his lesson and stay away from crossing the white-haired barmaid? Not soon enough, apparently._ I'm in deep, deep shit!_

* * *

So, how was it? Mira is not happy... and poor, poor Gray is having a really though day. And, I just couldn't help myself with the movie reference to one of the best movies ever made. Know what I'm talking about?

Next chapter I'm bringing the conclusion to the rather hectic day Fairy Tail has had. As you could tell, some need to take a bath now and drink some tea to calm their nerves. But as things come to an end there, it means more fluff is on its way!


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! As always, first thing is to thank all of you who reviewed, faved, and alterted. I'm sorry it took a little bit longer than the past few chapters to update, but life got in the way, meaning the Euro cup started, which resulted in very funny scenes of me at bars teaching grown American men the beauty that is soccer. But anyways, the chapter's longer than usual, too, so that's my own way of saying sorry for taking that long.  
_Klagana1 - _Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you enjoy the humor. Sometimes I wonder if it's just me laughing histerically at my own jokes.

So, no one got the movie reference last chapter? If you've never seen "Casablanca" I highly recommend you do. Yes, it's black and white, but it's awesome!

Anyways, so, what to expect for this chapter? Well, watch out for those blue-haired mages... And more fluffy scenes... Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Erza is still out chasing Gray.

**Quick note: I just upped this story to an M rating, just to be sure with the language, adult themes, and adult situations. I'm not planning on writing anything more explicit than what you've all read already. So, that's all. Just wanted you to know.**

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 8:

Gajeel Redfox, iron dragon-slayer and intimidator professionaire, had really done it this time. Mira wasn't angry; she was furious, _unbelievably_ and _demonically_ furious. The best way to describe the iron mage's current predicament was to imagine your worst nightmare and then multiply it by a thousand; and even still, that didn't completely convey the sort of threat Mirajane was projecting right now.

* * *

Happy was chatting amiably with Wendy and Charle, feeling particularly good about himself. Aside from resolving all of troubling thoughts with his Natsu, he had just offered the white Exceed one of his fish and she had actually accepted it this time. He couldn't deny he had been surprised by her reaction, but he was glad nonetheless. Apparently, being honest with and respectful of his lenient foster father and his weird blond mate had its perks.

The Exceed had originally intended to wrap the delicacy in the blue ribbon he had taken from Lucy's stash earlier, but he had returned the stolen object to the stellar mage after he apologized for being annoying. When the blue cat had extended his paw to reveal the rather large animal, the female had asked why it wasn't messily decorated with its usual ribbon. Happy had explained then how he had just returned the object to its rightful owner and apologized for it looking rather bare. To his utter surprise, Charle had actually smiled slightly at him and taken the fish off his paw, saying she was proud that he had offered her something that didn't involve stealing from others, something that just belonged to him. The blue Exceed considered this a _huge_ step in his growing relationship with the white feline, as big as when she decided to start calling him by his name after Edolas instead of the demeaning and impersonal "He-cat."

Today had turned out to be a good day for Happy. If he could think of a word to described what had happened to him, he'd say it'd be "matured;" and that was a first for him. But, if it involved Charle being nicer to him and getting the irrefutable support of Lucy and Natsu behind his pranks, then he had to admit he kind of liked the new word, and could perhaps do a little bit more of it in the future.

Happy's uncharacteristic serene smile was short lived, however, being brought to an abrupt end when the eldest Take-over sibling awoke much more earlier than anyone had anticipated from her self-induced catatonic state. It was safe to say Happy had never seen Mirajane so angry and, when she opened her mouth to yell the iron dragon-slayer's name, the cat cowered in fear and he almost instantly felt Wendy grab both him and Charle and wrap them close to her in a tight embrace. The entire guildhall was silent and Happy could bet no one in the entire realm of Fiore wished to be the guy responding to the name "Gajeel Redfox." For the first time since he had met the white-haired barmaid, the blue cat really feared Mira would take things too far in her anger.

* * *

Levy was not happy. The white-haired mage was beyond reason already, and it was going to take a lot of work to get her back to a manageable state. In fact, she wasn't entirely sure that feat would be even possible to accomplish. She had no choice though, Mirajane would kill Gajeel if someone didn't intervened soon and stopped her for ripping the man apart. Erza was gone, her siblings couldn't even move, and both the master and his grandson were stuck somewhere in between admiration, arousal, and fright. So, if _she_ didn't do something, nobody else would. It was obvious that no matter how Gajeel reacted, it wouldn't help his situation. That is, if he even realized the magnitude of the threat he was now facing.

The script mage was glad that she had anticipated Mira waking up faster than what many expected and that she had already begun looking for a strategy to deflate the imminent danger of the situation. Mira had lost no time in screaming Gajeel's name with scorn and in starting to transform into her most powerful Satan Soul form. Just a quick glance into the Take-over sibling's raging eyes, told Levy Gajeel would not be spared from a beating, no matter how deft her response ended up being. The iron dragon-slayer had already acted defensively and had dragged her behind him in an effort to protect her, but that just wouldn't do. Perhaps, this action would save her from some of the damage, but it would do nothing to keep _him_ away from Mira's anger, which was already exponentially high. It was now or never, before either of them decided on making their first move. The bluenette sighed as she slid her right hand through her dress in search of her solid script pen and prepared herself for action.

Before Gajeel had any chance to respond to the white-haired mage's proclamation, or to say anything at all, for that matter, Levy had already sidetracked his defensive arm-wall and was now standing in front of him. In less than two seconds flat she moved her script pen up and wrote the word "paralyze" in the air as she yelled the incantation. The effect was immediate. Mira stood immobile in front of them, incapacitated from moving thanks to the blue-haired mage's spell. The older woman redirected her vengeful stare towards her and seethed, "Levy, if you know what's good for you, you'll release me _now_." Levy would have been lying if she had said she hadn't felt intimidated by the barmaid's threat. However, there was no backing up now; she knew her spell wouldn't keep the furious mage stuck in her place for long and she had to get to work immediately.

* * *

It all seemed to have happened in a second, Lucy hadn't even had enough time to react and, next thing she knew, she was forced behind a Natsu who was one step short from going into dragon force. The fire mage was ready to attack an enemy, but the enemy in question appeared to be a notoriously angry Mirajane. After her initial shock, Lucy quickly came back to her senses and examined the situation they were currently in. It was obvious the Take-over sibling's rage was directed at the iron dragon-slayer, and she assumed it had something to do with the rather blatant mockery he had made of her earlier. Before addressing that issue, however, she needed to calm down the fire mage in order to keep him from doing something he'd regret later. Without speaking, she slowly raised her left hand and placed it on his shoulder, squeezing it softly as she brought her body closer to his and whispered in his ear. "It's alright, Natsu, calm down. I'll be fine, Mira is our friend." The effect of her words and gesture was instantaneous, and she immediately felt the dragon-slayer relax and let out the defensive breath he had been holding.

When the stellar mage returned her attention to the raging Demon Mirajane, she was relieved to find Levy had already taken action to control the damage. She knew the script mage's spell wouldn't last long, but it could be long _enough_ to reduce the mage's anger to a manageable amount. Lucy wasn't entirely sure what the bluenette had in mind at first, but once she had started negotiating with Mira, the stellar mage figured her entire plan in an instant. The blond noticed Natsu was still tense, so she squeezed his shoulder again and spoke in a louder voice to make sure both dragon-slayers heard her this time, "Don't worry, Levy knows what she's doing. Just play along." The fire mage nodded and she turned to her left a little to confirm the iron mage had gotten the message, "Gajeel?" The iron mage didn't turn to look at her, since his eyes were fixed on Levy, but he nodded slightly as well. Good, all that was left to do know was to make sure Mira bought whatever it was that Levy was going to sell to her, and, by the looks of it, Levy had chosen the perfect bargaining chip. _Smart, Levy-chan, very smart._

* * *

The bluenette took a step forward and found the Take-over mage's gaze before speaking, "Mira, I know Gajeel can be an insensitive ass most of the time, but I would really appreciate it if you let me enjoy the rest of the day with him in one piece. It is an important day for _both_ of us." Levy watched the white-haired barmaid's movements with care, her hands weren't fisted anymore and she had stopped resisting the immobilizing spell. Such reaction let the script mage know she had managed to capture Mira's attention, which promised to be a positive sign, but she was still, however, very much fuming with rage.

Placating the white-haired woman was not going to be an easy task. Levy sighed as she prepared for her next move, but almost immediately tensed again when she heard the iron mage speak. Apparently, Gajeel hadn't realized him speaking would only make matters worse, and, as it was customary with him, he had failed to keep his mouth shut and was already yelling an offended "Hey! What the fuck do you mean by that?" back at her. The blue-haired girl wasted no time in turning to look at her mate, "Shut it Gajeel, I'm trying to bargain for your life here, so just keep quiet and let me talk to Mira." The iron mage was not very happy by her response, but it had been successful in forcing his mouth shut. For a second, the script mage thought she had seen him smirk at her, but she didn't have the time to figure out what the gesture meant. Whether he had been pleasantly surprised by her aggressive comment or not, she would find out later. Right now, her attention needed to be solely focused on Mirajane.

The script mage returned her gaze towards the white-haired mage who was still trapped in her spell and, the second their eyes connected, she spoke again, calmly and collectedly, she _needed_ to be convincing for her plan to work, "Let's make a deal Mira. You leave Gajeel alone for today and you get to be my second child's godmother." She waited, and, to the younger mage's relief, her last comment turned out to be much more effective than her previous plea. Almost immediately, she observed how some of her anger dissipated, as the older woman started to get lost in incredibly well-thought-out fantasies of Levy and Gajeel's children and the added honor of being the godmother of one of them. However, it was still not enough, as the blue-haired mage found out by her answer, "_Second_ child? Why not the first? That would give you a lot more leeway here, Levy."

Levy was about to respond when Gajeel intervened again, "Hey! Don't go offering my kids around, Shrimp! I have a say in that, too!" _Stupid idiot, is he trying to make this harder? _She turned around momentarily to look at her mate. This time she clearly saw it; he was _definitely_ smirking knowingly at her. He _knew_ what was going on and he was just playing along. She found Lucy's gaze next, who was no longer behind a ready-to-kill Natsu. Instead, she was embracing him from behind, her head resting on his left shoulder. The fire mage seemed calmer, too; he had his own hands around hers and was rubbing his thumbs on her hands affectionately, probably in an effort to keep himself at bay. The stellar mage's expression confirmed what Levy already knew. The blond had figured out what she was trying to do somewhere along the line and had informed the two dragon-slayers about it. Lucy nodded slightly at her, silently telling her to continue.

Levy smiled briefly and then returned her attention to the iron mage and offered him her own sly grin. _I get it know. Well, let's make this as believable as possible, then. _"I told you to can it, Gajeel!" she admonishingly yelled back at him and, immediately after, turned to address the white-haired mage again, "Just ignore that idiot for a minute, Mira." She then noticed how the barmaid seemed to have waited for her to deal with her mate. Considering this a good sign, she continued, "I'm sorry, but I just can't offer that to you. I'd already promised Lu-chan she'd be my firstborn's godmother, and I can't go back on that promise." Levy watched as Mira turned to look at Lucy, who was now nodding to validate her statement. Once she had the white-haired mage's attention back, the bluenette spoke again, "But why don't I offer you something else instead?" The Take-over sibling raised a quizzical brow, what could she _possibly_ offer that would beat being godmother of her fist child? Mira wasn't sure and her curiosity started to gain up on her; she wanted to know. No, she _needed_ to known. "And what would that be, Levy-chan?" she responded with a mocking and slightly condescending tone in an effort to hide her growing interest.

Levy sighed internally, she had managed to intrigue the white-haired barmaid and, throughout their conversation, her anger had diminished some more, since she had other things to concentrate on besides planning the painful murder of the iron dragon-slayer. What is more, the script mage had seen through the older mage's attempt to conceal her curiosity, which helped her relax somewhat. It was time for the trump card; there was no way in hell Mira, with that ridiculous, overly romantic mind of hers, would reject what the bluenette was about to offer in a few seconds. To further her concern, Levy's spell would break any moment now; Mira was too strong a mage to contain for more than a few minutes.

Levy turned to glance at the iron dragon-slayer and gave him a knowing look to make sure he wouldn't interrupt again. It was a look that spelled "Don't fuck this up" and the iron mage got the message just as plainly as if she had actually spoken the words. The script mage then fixed her eyes on the Take-over mage again, noticing the spell had dissipated in the time period she was silently communicating with her mate. She needed to hurry and, with a stern and solid voice, she said, "Spare Gajeel for today and you'll also get to _name_ my second child." This was it, the defining moment that would determine whether she had managed to appease the raging demon or not. She looked at the woman expectantly, waiting for an answer and trying her best to maintain her composure. Finally, after about a minute of nerve-racking silence, Mira spoke, "Fine. I get to name the child and be its godmother." She deactivated her Satan Soul and just before she made her way back to the bar, she decided to make herself as clear as water, "But, this doesn't mean I won't beat him senseless tomorrow, Levy, cause I will." The blue-haired mage nodded her understanding, "I know that, Mira, don't worry," and she then watched the older woman walk away.

Once the white-haired barmaid had returned to her usual spot behind the bar, she openly smiled to all her guildmates and yelled as she clapped excitedly, "Isn't it all wonderful news, everyone? Let's celebrate for them now. Drinks are on me!" She then stopped, frowned, and turned to point to the iron dragon-slayer still standing at the guild's entrance, "Except, of course, for the pierced asshole over there." Fairy Tail sweat-dropped; leave it to Mira to go from one mood extreme to the other in no time and start acting as if nothing had happened. No one dared to say anything, though; they all had more sense than that – meaning nobody wanted to die that day. The happy-go-lucky barmaid Mirajane chose to be most of the time would _always_, _indiscriminately_, _hands_ _down_, _no questions asked_ beat the vengeful, angered demon she had sleeping inside.

It took another few minutes of awkward silence before the guildhall exploded in cheers once more and, soon enough, its members took advantage of Mira's offer and began emptying alcohol containers at unprecedented speeds. Once the party was in full swing again and Levy was sure Mira was completely distracted serving her guildmates, she turned around and approached Gajeel. He was standing in the same spot she had left him, waiting patiently for her and expecting an explanation, that much she already knew. Natsu had also spun Lucy back into his arms and looked a lot more relaxed than when he was glaring poisonous flaming daggers at Mira. _Phew, that was a close one!_

The second the script mage was close enough, Gajeel pulled her closer and said, "Care to explain, Shorty?" Before speaking, Levy chose to get comfortable in the iron mage's embrace; her heart was beating a little faster than usual and she needed to be perfectly calm to be able to explain everything that had happened. She took a deep breath, "It's rather simple, Gajeel. I only played Mira into _believing_ she was getting a great honor for agreeing to sparing you for today." She watched as her mate's expression turned confused. Apparently, he wasn't as informed as she had originally thought, and she'd have to be much more explicit than that. "What do you mean?" she heard him ask. She was about to answer when Lucy interrupted, "You still don't get it, do you?" After her comment, Natsu joined Gajeel in being totally lost, but before either of them could question the women again, the blond continued, "Levy only made it _look_ like she was bargaining those things with Mira."

At the continued sight of the perplexed dragon-slayers, Levy decided to elaborate, "It's simple. I had already decided that _if_ I had a second child, Mira would be its godmother. Aside from Lu-chan, she's the only other close friend who I trust enough to leave in charge of my kids." Gajeel interrupted, "What about naming my kids, Levy?" There it was again; he was calling her by her first name, which clearly meant no one else should participate in that part of their lives but them. She knew that already, though, so she'd have to make her intentions with Mira clearer for the iron mage to fully understand her actions. She sighed and then focused her whole attention on him, speaking slowly and clearly to make sure he'd get it right away, "Do you really think I'd let Mira name our kids? All I have to do when the time comes is _accidentally_ mention the name I want for my kid close enough for her to hear and blab about how happy it would make me, and that's the name she'll choose. You forget I've known Mira for a long time, Gajeel. I know how that imaginative mind of her works." The iron mage relaxed at her answer, "So, what you're saying is…" The bluenette interrupted to finish his sentence, "I made Mira think that she was bargaining for honors that were already hers? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

The effect of her last words was immediate and both dragon-slayers started pleasurably guffawing upon realizing the full extent of Levy's actions. The script mage turned to look at her blond friend, who was enjoying the sight of the two males rather slow deduction capabilities. "You knew, right?" she asked. Lucy turned to look at her friend and smiled, giving her answer in a playful voice, "I figured it out the instant you mentioned your hypothetical second child, Levy-chan. I assumed you'd strategize your attack around Mira's overly creative mind, but I do have to admit I wasn't expecting that last move. That was both brutally cruel and insanely brilliant." The blue-haired mage smirked lightly back at the stellar mage, "I learned from the best, Lu-chan," she began, mimicking her friend's mocking tone, "You really think I didn't notice all your giggling whenever Natsu started one of those so-called jealousy outbursts? And I may not know what you said to Gray exactly, but I just had to take one look at Gajeel's face to know it wasn't something very nice." The two women stared at each other momentarily before they both openly joined their two mates in their boisterous laughing. Unbeknown to both females, the two dragon-slayers had listened to their entire conversation and they were both thinking the exact, same thing, _Damn, are these two girls seriously demonic when they want to... I love it!_

Natsu stopped his laughing momentarily, "Who would've thought the shy, well behaved Levy-chan was such a devious little devil, huh? I think you better watch out for this one, Metal-head." He then inhaled deeply to steady his breathing and moved to imprison the stellar mage in his arms once again and kissed her on the cheek loudly. Gajeel noticed Levy blushing at the pink-haired mage's comment and, taking a deep breath of his own, said, "Shut up, Salamander, leave the Shrimp alone," just as he proceeded to coil his arm protectively over her shoulders. "I was right, though," he said next, now looking at the blue-haired script mage beside him, "You are a little blue demon in the making." The girl's blush bloomed out of control and she lowered her face in an effort to hide it, "Stop teasing me, you idiot." The black-haired mage chuckled, using his free hand to ruffle her hair, "It's alright, I find it really _sexy_, _Levy_." The bluenette stared back at him, no longer caring that her face was painted red with embarrassment, and tried, unsuccessfully, to free herself from the iron mage's hold, as she simultaneously hit him relatively hard on his upper arm with her free hand, "Gajeel! Don't say stuff like that in front of Natsu and Lu-chan!"

The iron mage brushed the slap off and tightened his hold of the girl. "Nah, they don't mind, Shrimp," he said as he patted her head in his characteristic manner, "The fire idiot is as shameless as I am and the Blondie likes it, too." And, as he finished his sentence, he lifted the girl from the floor and tossed her unceremoniously behind his back. "Time to go, Shorty. I don't want to risk the Demon Woman changing her mind and I'm done sharing you for the day." He then gave Natsu, who was grinning amusedly back at him, a knowing smirk before he turned to leave Fairy Tail, "Catch you up later, Salamander." He turned to look at the stellar mage, who didn't seem too happy with his previous comment – _Damn, I'm sure I'll pay for that one later –_, and nodded his acknowledgment, "Bunny Girl." Immediately after that, he started his walk back home. All the while, Levy squirmed in his hold, hitting him on the back with her fists as she yelled at him, "Put me down, Gajeel! Put me down, this instant!" Gajeel just laughed, "Gi hee, no way in hell, Shrimp." Their rather noisy leaving went completely unnoticed by the vast majority of their guildmates, who were mostly crowded at the bar in an effort to get more free booze from a surprisingly energetic Mira. _Now that I have you, I'm never letting you go._

Natsu and Lucy watched their retreating guildmates; the iron mage strengthening his hold and laughing repeatedly as the girl continued to move, yell, and punch the male all the way until Gajeel took a sharp turn and they were out of sight.

"Lucy," came Natsu's silence-breaking comment, given in a low and flirtatious tone, just as he tightened his embrace on the blond mage in his arms.

"Don't even think about it, Dragneel." Lucy snapped back at him.

"Aw, Lucy~! You're such a killjoy!" he answered, just as he lifted the girl from the floor and started twirling playfully on his spot. _One day, though… Definitely._

* * *

The blue-haired dragon-slayer had released the two Exceeds from her protective hold around the same time Levy had stepped forward and casted her spell on Mira. The two cats didn't drink alcohol and Wendy still had three quarters of her own beer mug to go, so none of them approached the bar once Mirajane had returned to her duties. Instead, they stayed seated in the same table as before and continued laughing at the two male dragon-slayers' expense. They couldn't deny the interactions between those two were becoming more and more interesting to watch. From Gajeel and Natsu's complicit antics, to the pink-haired mage's playful threats, and the iron mage's frequent confused stares. Not even Charle had been able to withhold her laughter when Gajeel had lifted Levy up and thrown her over his shoulder as if she weighted nothing more than a sheet of paper and then continued to talk to the other couple, completely ignoring the enraged and embarrassed script mage struggling to free herself from such a compromising position.

From the three mages, Wendy was the only one who could hear what the four mages were saying to each other, and she had been kind enough to repeat most of the dialogue to her two companions. All had been rather shocked at Lucy and Levy's conversation; they had expected that sort of taunting interactions between the two dragon-slayers, but not their mates. Of course, once it had taken place, the three observers realized it couldn't have been any other way. It just so happened that the girls had a different approach to the whole "Let's mess with our friends" thing. Using a war analogy, the two men were the outspoken infantry at the front lines, choosing to attack their enemy directly, while the two girls were the strategists behind the entire operation, sidestepping the confrontation with indirect strikes.

Wendy momentarily thought just how much trouble the four could cause if they really put their minds to it and, upon picturing what could happened if they did, decided she would just _love_ to take part of some of those games one day. Secretly, Charle found the entire thing adorable. The two older dragon-slayers were rambunctious and a mess, but they were loyal and well intended, and they knew how to take care of their own. She only hoped Wendy would find a mate that would look at her the way those two couples looked at each other. Happy just loved to watch Natsu making fun of the world. After all, he did grow up with the guy and it was inevitable that he'd turn out the way he did, being raised by the crazy wild Salamander and all. He had been pleasantly surprised years back when he had realized Lucy could put up with both him and Natsu at the same time and don't get tired of either them. That fact alone had proved to him that the blond would become an invaluable friend to his foster father. And, as time went by, he had noticed Natsu had become less restless in his search for Igneel. Perhaps, the two mages hadn't realized at first the sort of effect they had on each other, but the blue feline had certainly picked up on it. As much as he liked to tease his two friends, it was even more enjoyable to watch them having fun together.

So, unlike the rest of their guildmates, who were too busy getting drunk, Wendy, Happy, and Charle did notice Gajeel and Levy leaving their celebration party rather early. After having Wendy explain what was being said and laughing for a while at the amusing scene the black-haired dragon-slayer was making, the blue cat spoke, "Ah, I think it makes sense for them to leave. They probably want some time alone and enjoy some peace and quiet." Happy was surprised to see the two females give him a disagreeing look. "I wouldn't count on that," Wendy said, while Charle nodded approvingly at the dragon-slayer. Confused, he asked, "What do you mean?" Both girls fixed their gaze on him as the blue-haired mage spoke again, "Remember how we got to the guild later than usual today?" She paused to see the cat nod before continuing, "Well, we were helping Lily get his stuff together. He finally got over his cold this morning and he was getting ready to go back home. So, I don't think Gajeel will find the privacy he was hoping for. Lily should be there by now." Happy gaped, _This girl is seriously more evil than I thought!_ "You know, you could've told him, Wendy," he said reproachingly. The girl side grinned deviously, "Well, it's not like he really gave me a chance to say anything, now did he?"

Happy's gape widened. He was discovering a whole new side to Wendy he'd never known before – and he liked it. He sure needed to pay more attention to the girl from now on. He was about to respond to her, when he heard Natsu call his name and say he and Lucy were heading home as well. Apparently, they were going back to the little shack he and the pink-haired mage shared for some unknown reason they felt unnecessary to share. The blue feline was having a great time and was not ready to go home just yet, so, after asking Wendy and Charle if they minded having him over for the night, he flew to tell his foster father he'd be staying with the younger dragon-slayer at Fairy Hills. He figured the two mages would enjoy a few more hours alone, and it was his own way of atoning for the trouble he had caused earlier.

* * *

Natsu was still enveloping Lucy tightly with his arms as he rocked both their bodies from side to side. It had been a few minutes since Gajeel and Levy had left and the two mages had moved away from the middle of the doorway and were now reclining onto one of the doors as they both watched the beautiful Magnolian sun set. He was holding her hands and playing with the ring in her finger in an effort to remind himself that everything that had happened was real; he had barely had a moment to calm down and really let things sink in that day. He hadn't gotten much sleep either, since he had spent most of the night awake working with Gajeel in both gifts, and things had been one emotional rollercoaster after another once he had showed up at Lucy's apartment.

The dragon-slayer yawned, making Lucy break the embrace and turn to look at the fire mage. "Are you tired? Do you want to head home and get some rest?" she asked, while letting him intertwine the fingers of both his hands with hers. He smiled lightly, "Would you mind? I didn't get much sleep yesterday." The blond returned the gesture and replied, "Not at all." She paused for a moment, "Only, could we go to your place? I really don't want to deal with the mess my apartment is in right now," she finished saying, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her eyebrows lightly. The fire mage laughed at her annoyed expression, "Not a problem, Lucy. Let me just tell Happy we're leaving." He straightened himself up, untangling his body from hers, and walked into the guild to search for the aforementioned blue hairball.

Lucy watched the fire mage get lost in the guildhall with a smile and, then, noticed the abandoned bag and purse at the other side of the guild's doors. _That's probably Levy's. I should take it with me and bring it back to her tomorrow. It's not like she's going to need her keys to Fairy Hills anyways._ The stellar mage picked up the belongings the bluenette had left behind and walked towards the bar to inform Mira she was taking them with her in case her friend came looking for them. When she came back out of the crowded bar, she found the fire dragon-slayer already waiting for her at the guild's doors. He informed her Happy would be staying with Wendy and, after taking her hand, they started their way to his house.

* * *

Gajeel was not happy. He'd never thought the day would come when he would _not_ be glad to see his cat. But, alas, here he was, looking at his once again healthy fluffy partner and he was not pleased. He should've felt relieved that the black Exceed had recovered from that pretty ugly flu. However, since his blue-haired mate had instantaneously left his side to go hug the furred creature the second they entered his house, he was not one bit content. To his further annoyance, Lily was enjoying Levy's petting too much for his own liking.

It didn't take long for the cat to notice Gajeel scowling by the door and he decided he'd have some fun with the iron mage before excusing himself on the false pretense of retrieving some forgotten object at Wendy's. "So, Levy, I'm assuming you're spending the night?" he asked. The addressed girl blushed lightly as she nodded, "I guess. I left my purse at Fairy Tail all thanks to Gajeel, here, so I don't have my keys to get into Fairy Hills." The iron dragon-slayer squinted angrily as he saw the furry black cat lean into the bluenette's hand and let a small, almost inaudible moan escape him. Lily smirked, "I hope you don't mind if I cuddle into bed with you, then, I heard a thunderstorm was expected for tonight." The cat felt the script mage tense at his question and he could've sworn he saw Gajeel fume and tighten his fists. _Boy, is this fun!_ "Of co-course, you can, Lily," the girl stuttered back at him embarrassedly.

The dragon-slayer couldn't stand it anymore. "That's it! Step away from the Shrimp. You know perfectly well there's no storm coming tonight and I refuse to let you cuddle with her in my bed!" he barked back. The Exceed chuckled, "Don't be so selfish, Gajeel. Haven't you heard that sharing is caring?" The iron mage's annoyance escalated to the point where Lily could see his partner's mane had spiked in anger along with the rest of the hair in his body. Before the man had a chance to yell some profanities back at him, he separated himself from Levy, opened his wings, and said, "Oh, yes, that's right, I'd promised Wendy I'd drop by later to pick up some medicine; guess I'll spend the night there. Congratulations to you both, it's good to see Gajeel finally manned up." He then flew out of the house through an open window, leaving a majorly embarrassed script mage and a speechless iron dragon-slayer. _You're gonna wish you'd stayed sick, cat!_

It took the iron mage a few minutes to recuperate from Lily's rather unexpected reappearance but much anticipated teasing. Gajeel knew the Exceed would definitely make some sort of remark about the two of them getting together, he had had enough conversations on that subject with the swordscat to expect something like that. Although, he had to admit he had forgotten all about his furry partner for a rather long period of time. In a way, he felt he was sort of excused from feeling guilty about it, since he had had his mind full all day. He sighed and turned to look at Levy, who was still seated frozen on the couch, "Let me go get you a t-shirt to sleep in." The blue-haired mage found his red eyes and nodded lightly, "Thanks, Gajeel." He then made his way towards his room and disappeared in it.

* * *

The fire dragon-slayer was sitting on his bed in his nightwear, consisting of a pair of loose and breezy shorts, and watching the beautiful figure that was his mate dressed in one of his old shirts as it approached him, "Natsu, we need to take another mission soon. My rent is coming up and we lost most of the reward from the last one thanks to your and Gray's antics." He chuckled lightly and waited for her to climb onto the bed and kneel next to him before speaking, "Sure thing, Lucy. We'll check the request board tomorrow morning." The girl smiled at him and leaned in to give him a fast but passionate kiss on the lips. "Sounds good," she said, pulling away, "but you need to rest up if we're going to leave by tomorrow." The pink-haired mage stopped her from retreating completely, raising his right hand and burring it in the nape of her head among the soft tresses of her loose blond hair, "Mm, Lucy, if rent is always such a hassle for you, why don't you move in with me and Happy and forget about the whole thing?" He watched as her eyes got lost in his momentarily, delaying her answer as she considered his proposal, "Your place is too small for the three of us, Natsu. It's alright for nights like this, but not for something permanent."

The fire mage wrapped her hand with his, intertwining their fingers together and never taking his eyes off hers. "I did build a separate room for us, didn't I?" he said in a soft voice and paused for a second before continuing, "Is size your only concern? Cause I can fix that." The stellar mage smiled brightly back at him, "I guess you could." The pink-haired dragon-slayer grinned widely in his characteristic way, "It's settled then, from here on out, we'll go on missions to get enough jewels to fix this place up. I promise to behave so we don't end up losing most of the cash and I can have you sleeping next to me every night in no time." He pulled his hand away from her head and grabbed her waist, pulling her with him as he let his body fall onto the mattress, "Deal?" Lucy started giggling as her hyperactive mate pulled her down and onto his naked chest. Tired or not, the boy always seemed to have energy to spare according to her. She let her free hand find its way up to move some of his tousled locks away from his face, "You've got yourself a deal, dragon boy, but I want a reasonably large space for my library." The dragon-slayer nodded. _Dragon boy? You and Gajeel have more in common than you realize, _he mentally sidetracked_._ He moved the hand on her waist to embrace her tightly and slid the other to her neck, pulling her down to seal their deal with a wild and reckless kiss.

Natsu loved the way her lips moved synchronically with his, up and down, in and out, pressing and loosening, biting and caressing. She never failed to correspond with the exact same intensity and emotion with which he started his lovemaking actions. It was the same with him whenever she initiated contact, sensing her mood instantly and responding accordingly. The fire mage felt her move her arms over his shoulders, so he rolled over to switch their positions and give her the space she needed to play with his pink locks freely like she wanted. Her fingers massaged his scalp as they pulled on his hair; his hands tightened, enveloping her protectively and possessively. Nothing compared to her touch; there was nothing he craved more, nothing he needed more, nothing that excited him more, or that calmed him more.

The dragon-slayer pulled apart breathing hard and lowered his head to nuzzle her neck. Lucy moved one of her hands forward and cupped his cheek, forcing him to look up at her. "Let's get some sleep so we can get up early tomorrow and get that first mission done," she told him quietly while smiling lovingly at him. The fire mage nodded his agreement, still too dazed with her addictive scent to speak, and maneuvered his way to get them under the covers. He lay on his back and allowed the blond to rest over his right pectoral as he hugged her tightly with the same arm. "Good night, Lucy," he said, kissing her forehead affectionately, "I can't wait to have you here permanently." The blond kissed his chest while her right hand made little circles on his exposed torso, "Neither can I, Natsu," she whispered, "Sweet dreams."

The couple fell almost instantly into a deep and peaceful sleep, but just before dosing off, the fire dragon-slayer took one last look at his mate and grabbed the hand that had been left resting on his upper stomach. _I always get the best sleep when you're next to me, Lucy._

* * *

Gajeel stared at the sleeping figure beside him. Levy was cuddled up next to him as he was holding her from behind, his head resting over hers on the pillow. The black-haired mage would have fallen asleep hours ago if it hadn't been for the intoxicating scent of his mate's hair that linger in the air. Her head being so close to his nose didn't help either, but he didn't mind it at all. He'd rather have her close to him like this and depriving him from rest, than anywhere else far away from him. The bluenette was wearing an old t-shirt he had offered her, which hung loose from her body, sliding off of one shoulder and looming just above the knee. When the iron mage had first laid eyes on her in his clothing, he could've sworn he'd never seen her look more beautiful. There was just something naturally appealing about Levy being completely wrapped up in his clothes that he couldn't fully comprehend. No matter how much smaller or more delicate the oversized t-shirt made her look, to Gajeel, it only made her look stronger and more alive, because, as the dragon-slayer realized moments later, this was the best _visible_ reminder that she was _willingly_ his mate.

The script mage had removed her bandana and jewelry before getting into bed, but she had left the necklace around her neck and one of her hands was holding onto it as she slept. Gajeel smiled, realizing how he'd never be truly alone from now on; he'd always have someone beside him, someone to rely on. And he promised himself, as sleep started to gain up on him, that he would do everything in his power to make sure she'd stayed right there, next to him, where she belonged.

* * *

So, How was it? Please let me know what you all think of Levy's way of dealing with Mira. I'm curious about your reactions.

Sadly, this story is coming to its end. I'm guessing one, two at the most, chapters left, depending on how things work themselves out on the writing. What's coming up? A flash-forward to a few months ahead. What does that mean? You'll get to see the sort of trouble Natsu and Gajeel have been up to in that time. And expect an unexpected visit to Fairy Tail that will _not_ have the fire mage very happy.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi everyone! As always, first of is thanking all of you who reviewed, faved, and alerted my story. It really does make my day.  
_Marika - _Thanks for the review! Well, the great thing about it is that Mira would think she'd be chosing the child's name, but Levy would have already found a way to get the name she really wanted into her mind someway. I just know it, ha, ha.

Second, I am _so sorry_ for the delay, but this chapter just keep getting too out of control - even for Fairy Tail, and that says something in and of itself. Anyways, I like to call this my **"tribute chapter."** It is my own little way of saying thanks to my reviewers. So for those of you who have either mentioned something they would like to see or just pointed out something they particularly liked, I tried to add all of it or make mention of in this chapter.  
**Tenshi Icarus-** Whatever is been keeping Natsu busy as of lately, goes out to you, and it was inspired from our short conversation to your review of chapter 4.  
**89niners -best-team-ever- **You wanted to see Lucy's spirits. You'll get some Loke flashbacks here as promised way back when.  
**Hejmdal-** Gajeel decided to "Shooby do bop," just for you. And there's something else of him he rather not be mentioned, that's making it's way back with a vengeance.  
**Lucy Ashley from Fairytail,Catwho,- **For you who can appreciate what fearful strategist Levy and Lucy can be, there's another taste of it. But who will be their victim(s) this time?**  
****OhtaSuzuke- **You said you were positive Gajeel and Natsu would team up in the future... Well... your dream might just have come true, lol.  
**Tsuki. Raven- **Don't forget little Wendy is at the guild today, even if it doesn't look that way.

So, what to expect from this chapter? Mix all of what I've said up to this point and then add an unexpected visitor. And no, when I said last chapter that the visitor wouldn't make Natsu very happy, I wasn't talking about Loke.

* * *

Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

* * *

"A Favor"

Chapter 9:

_Three months later…_

Natsu was in his favorite guild in Earthland. He was sitting on a stool next to Mira's bar, his back towards it, resting his arms on the counter to keep him in an upright position. He was currently trying to relax and enjoy some of his friends' craziness. Who knew fixing a house would turn up to be such a hard endeavor? He had built an extra room in his shack a few months back after realizing that, as exciting as having his way with Lucy in his hammock sounded, it wasn't really all that practical. Especially, since he couldn't hold the girl close to him like he wanted and had to worry about finding some sort of cover in case Happy came rushing into the place.

For once, the fire dragon-slayer had gained some sort of understanding of what the word "privacy" meant. However, it hadn't been the thought of _him_ being exposed for the world to see what had driven him to build a separate room. No, it had been the notion that _other men_ could get a glimpse of Lucy in such a state what had rushed him out of his house one morning determined to set stone over stone until he had a _closed_ room just for the two of them. It had been one of the best decisions he had made in his life, as he found out a week after finishing the room and having Gray break into his house to get him ready for a last minute mission with the team. If the freaking stripping iced pervert had seen any of Lucy's precious curves, Natsu wouldn't have hesitated in blinding the fool. Hey, some ancient cultures believed blindness struck those who had seen forbidden things, so his violent impulses weren't _that_ crazy, right? They had some solid base on some ancient tradition and that was enough to convince Natsu that he wasn't entirely out of line with this train of thought. Besides, he was a dragon-slayer with ancient dragon traditions; as far as he was concerned, it made perfect sense.

Speaking of the droopy-eyed Icicle, the poor guy had really had it bad that day when he and Gajeel came bearing news – and, in his case, murderous gifts. After he had fled from Fairy Tail with Erza hot on his tracks, Gray wasn't seen in Fairy Tail for over six days. Apparently, after beating him to an inch of his life and yelling some profanities-filled speech, which nobody in the guild knew exactly what it had consisted of, the Requip mage had had enough sense (or pity) to drag Gray's unconscious body to the best healer in Fiore – also known as the human-hating Porlyusica – to take care of his wounds.

The ice mage had been out of commission for five whole days and not even Juvia had been allowed to visit him. Gray returned to Fairy Tail a week later having developed a particular aversion to cake and any other spongy, sugary treats. However, after that day, things had been good for the ice mage; his relationship with the overzealous water mage was progressing and they seemed happy, work was good and profitable – considering Natsu had been extra careful to not cause unnecessary destruction –, Erza had long ago stopped giving him ugly scowls and menacing glares, and, just last month, he had had the pleasure of beating Lyon on a one-on-one magic duel the two of them had set up for no particular reason whatsoever.

As for Gajeel, after claiming Levy that day and pissing off Mira, he had decided to stay home and away from the guild for safe measure for a grand period of two days. He had begun to understand the way the white-haired barmaid's mind worked, so he had decided to give the woman some more space to cool off. The day he had come back, he had walked straight up to her and told her to get it over with so they could start on a new page. Most of Fairy Tail had been surprised by the iron mage's direct approach, but not Natsu. He knew the black-haired mage always dealt with his problems head on, and his enmity with Mira was no exception.

It was safe to say Gajeel got a pretty bad beating that day, but the Take-over mage hadn't been as rough as she could've been with him. Still, that rainbowed black eye had come back with a vengeance. The multicolored bruise had stayed on his face for almost two weeks; regardless of how many ointments the pink-haired healer had given him after a full day of pleading by the blue-haired script mage. In a way, Mirajane had gained a new form of respect for the iron dragon-slayer for having him approach her and confront her face to face. After that last clash between them, the two mages seemed to have reached a new sort of understanding between them, and things had been pretty calmed at Fairy Tail.

The fire dragon-slayer sighed as he went over his current situation. Construction on the new house was almost done, but, man, had it been problematic! What had started as a simple expansion, had ended up turning into a full-out plan to build a whole new house. Once the sketches for Lucy's library had been completed, the blond had suggested adding a special room to keep all of Natsu's memorabilia from his past missions. Then, came Happy's room, which was designed to accommodate his future family, and so it was built in a cornered area of the house to give the blue cat his own privacy. Next, a bigger kitchen (to which he, clearly, had no complains), a larger common room, a small study for Lucy, and two more rooms, each with its own bathroom. Finally, and on this the fire mage had insisted, a larger bedroom for the two of them with two glass windows going from floor to ceiling and extending from one end to the other so they could watch the sunset every afternoon. He liked the fiery oranges, yellows, and pinks of the sun at that time, it reminded him of his own magic.

Since Natsu had been dwelling in his own thoughts, he failed to notice the iron dragon-slayer taking a seat next to him, "Morning, Salamander." The pink-haired man startled a little and then turned to look at his guildmate, "Oh, morning, Metal-face. Where did you just come from?" Gajeel stared at him for a second before replying, "I just came out of a meeting with the old geezer. He's not too happy with me right now." Natsu laughed at the expected response, "Finally had enough of you, huh?"

Gajeel smirked back, "It's not like he's happy with you either, Fire-breath. You've pretty much burned down ten jewelry shops around Fiore and intimidated dozens of jewelers, of which three had to be committed to institutions for days of therapy."

The pink-haired dragon-slayer stopped his laughing, putting on as serious an expression as he could muster and said, "Well, that's not my fault. The second Lucy told me what she loved most about _our_ ring was that it was _unique_ and that it _belonged_ to us, I was left with no other choice but to make _sure_ it _stayed_ that way. I have to say those stupid journalists from _Sorcerer Weekly_ are the real pain in the ass."

To Natsu's aggravation, the gossip magazine had surprised-visited Fairy Tail last month and found out about the pledge between him and Lucy. Aside from publishing the news in their latest issue with a cover of the two mages, the reporter had taken a picture of Lucy's ring with a magical camera that made a perfect three-dimensional representation of the ring. Women around Fiore had raved about the piece of jewelry and rushed to shops to buy their own, so jewelers had wasted no time in trying to replicate the ring. Therefore, forcing the fire dragon-slayer on a series of unofficial excursions around the country to correct the situation.

Most jewelers were smart and had desisted from making the ring the second the fire mage had shown up at their stores' doors fulminating people with just his glare. Others, however, weren't that wise, and had needed more persuasion; and that's where the burning down of their establishments and scaring the shit out of them had come into play. It was understandable that Makarov was pissed about Natsu's behavior, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. If you asked him, it was the magazine's entire fault for butting in where they weren't welcomed. Going on those trips was a major headache, too, since he had to ride an accursed train from hell most of the time and Lucy refused to comfort him on his return. It was obvious she didn't approve of his methods, even if she was sympathetic to his cause.

To make things worse for the pink-haired mage, Makarov was pretty annoyed with the other dragon-slayer's behavior as well. For the past three months, Fairy Tail had gotten complains about the iron mage intimidating any male that had the misfortune of crossing Levy's path. Gajeel had seriously taken things to a whole new level, to a point where men _ran away_ from the blue-haired script mage to avoid getting a visit from her possessive and violent mate later. This clearly didn't sit well with the bluenette either, since employees from the opposite sex refused to acknowledge her and she ended up having a very hard time going to the library, bookshops, or plain coffeehouses and restaurants.

The iron mage, however, continued his terrorization of Magnolia. At least, people weren't severely injured, most were just verbally threatened – unless the poor soul in question had _actually_ really tried to flirt or touch Levy inappropriately, then he was sure to see what metal hell looked like. The pierced idiot seemed to have more sense than deciding to put half of Magnolia in the hospital, and Natsu suspected there had to be another reason why the iron dragon-slayer behaved that way.

"You know, Metal-head, you're one to talk. You have half of Magnolia's population fearing for their lives," Natsu finally answered. Gajeel stared at him momentarily and smirked, "Well, just like you said about your own little private missions, I can't help it. You see, whenever one of those clerks refuses to help her, the Shrimp comes rushing to my place fuming, glaring daggers, and screaming all sorts of profanities at me. And, between you and I, there's nothing more arousing than a pissed off Levy."

The fire mage turned to look at the black-haired mage, now thoroughly amused by their conversation, "So, you do all that to provoke _her_?" Gajeel nodded arrogantly, "Best thing about it is she actually _knows_ why I do it, but she still can't bring herself to react any other way." Natsu guffawed, "Damn, you're sick, you know that, right?" The iron dragon-slayer laughed pleasurably as well, "Not more than you, Pinkie, you think I haven't noticed how much that 'possessive Lucy' turns you on?" The fire mage looked at him raising a quizzical eyebrow, but didn't say anything back, and instead both males continued laughing for a long time.

Once the dragon-slayers were forced to stop laughing for lack of air, the black-haired man said, "So, anyways, where's the Bunny Girl?" Natsu breathed deeply before answering, "She needed to go pick up some stuff at this store for the house. She should be here any minute now."

As if on cue, Fairy Tail's doors opened wide and in came the blond stellar mage followed by another blond man yelling his trademark "Cool~!" behind her. The fire mage scowled, _Fuck my life, there's that annoying reporter again! And why the fuck is he so close to Lucy?_

Gajeel seemed to notice the fire mage tensing at the appearance of the _Sorcerer Weekly's_ reporter, "Calm down, Fire-breath. Remember what happened last time you lost your cool." Right after he had finished speaking, the iron mage regretted using the word "cool." He just hoped the pink-haired mage managed to control himself; nobody wanted a repeat of what had been happening to Loke for a few weeks now. At least, Leo had the luck of being a celestial spirit and being able to retreat to his own world to heal up and get out of the fire dragon-slayer's sight, the ignorant poor bastard who had just come in trailing Lucy way too closely for either the fire or the iron dragon-slayer's comfort didn't have any such advantage.

Natsu's scowl was somewhat replaced by an evil smirk as he remembered the nice little number he had made on Loke a few times already. The first time had been around six weeks ago, his team had just returned from a job posted by a particularly perverted old man who had tried to grope Lucy, Erza, and Wendy at any chance he got. Needless to say, the fire mage had not been in his best mood, and, just about ten minutes into the guild, Loke had made one of his unsolicited appearances. The spirit had wasted no time in pulling Lucy into a hug and giving one of his familiarly corny lines, "My princess, I felt your distress and came out just in time to save you!" Lucy had given him an annoyed look and, as far as Natsu was concerned, she was about to tell him to piss off, before the dragon-slayer had decided to speak first. "Let go of my mate, perverted cat spirit!"

Loke had never stopped being particularly affective with the stellar mage, despite of him knowing about Lucy and Natsu's relationship. The issue had always bothered the fire mage, and that day, Leo had just failed to notice how upset Natsu really was. So, instead of actually backing off and leaving the blond alone to go harass some other (unlucky) female, he had chosen to further annoy the fire mage by tightening his hold of Lucy and smirking tauntingly back at the pink-haired man. Natsu hadn't even bothered to say anything else aside from his original threat; and, after noticing the celestial spirit had disregarded his warning, he had lightened his hands up and singed Leo's hair – all of it.

In five seconds flat, the proud mane of the lion constellation had been burned off completely and the one now smirking evilly was the fire mage. Leo was so shocked he hadn't even spoken and was just standing there, agape, and utterly surprised. "I'm not telling you again, you don't get to touch my mate like that. Got it?" Natsu had said, just before the celestial spirit had started to touch his now bald head and started tearing up. "My hair! My pride!" the spirit had screamed as he disappeared with a poof on his way back to the spirit world.

The second time Natsu had burned Loke's hair off happened two weeks after the first incident. The celestial spirit had opened his own gate yet again and knelt down before Lucy, grabbing her right hand and kissing it, "My princess!" Natsu had been standing right next to Lucy, and he was particularly annoyed since he had just seen the latest _Sorcerer Weekly_ issue with that picture of Lucy's ring. Not really in the mood to deal with the flirtatious spirit, he had turned to scowl at the blond male and said menacingly, "She's not _your_ princess. She's _my_ mate."

Once again, Loke had made the poor decision to provoke the fire mage and had responded with a "But she is _my_ master!" and giving him a devious smirk. The dragon-slayer had only stared back at the spirit and without another word of warning, he had brought both his "fired up" hands up and incinerated all the blond strands in Leo's head. "Not this again!" Loke had yelled furiously. Natsu had just smirked knowingly back at him, "I told you, already. Stop provoking me, stupid lion, and stay the fuck away from _my_ mate!" Leo had squinted angrily at the dragon-slayer before disappearing again as fast as he could. The Spirit King forbid some beautiful woman saw him hairless! He couldn't live with that, no fucking way in hell.

The third and last time Natsu had had the pleasure of injuring Leo's vanity had been just three days ago. On this occasion, Natsu had just returned from one of his extracurricular activities to prevent the replication of Lucy's ring. The jeweler had been one of those stupid ones who didn't seem to understand things the easy way, so the fire mage had had to turn to some "persuasion techniques." To make matters worse, he had just taken a two-hour train ride each way, and, once he had returned to Magnolia, he had had to put up with another of Makarov's lectures.

Understandably, the dragon-slayer hadn't been in the best of moods, so when the celestial spirit had made his appearance, Natsu had already burned the spirit's mane before he had had the time to finish yelling Lucy's name with that particularly annoying tone of his. Leo had then given the fire mage an angry look, "What the fuck was that for?" The pink-haired man had just nonchalantly replied, "You can call it preventive measures. Besides, I had a pretty bad day, perverted cat. You can blame the Icicle for not being here for your charred hair. Why don't you go get your beauty sleep and let me enjoy my time with _my mate_?" Clearly, Loke had been beyond pissed and was about to give Natsu one of his Regulus punches before Lucy had force closed his gate and sent him back to the spirit world. "Men and their male-egos," being the only thing she had said.

So, here he was now, forced to witness the blond reporter from _Sorcerer Weekly_ insinuating himself to his mate. Not going to happen. Not on his watch. Natsu took a deep breath before he stood up and ignored Gajeel's words. "You!" he screamed as loud as he could, pointing an accusatory finger at Jason who continued to invade Lucy's personal space. The male had barely any time to react, and just as he raised his head to address the speaker, a fist collided with his face and sent him flying several feet in the air and onto an unoccupied table, shattering it in the process.

To Natsu's further annoyance, he had just had the misfortune of punching the _one_ person in all of Fiore who considered being hit by the Salamander an honor. As soon as the reporter had regained his senses, he stood up and waving his tight fists up and down in his characteristic way, he yelled "Cool~! I'm not washing my face until I get an imprint of Salamander's fist!" Natsu squinted in anger and his fists tightened. _Arg! Asshole! Can't you take a hint when you get one! _

As excited as he might have been, Jason wasted no time in running back towards Lucy and continued his inquiry, "So, Lucy, how does it feel to be the much desired girlfriend of Fairy Tail's Salamander? Care to share any intimate details? Isn't it cool to be so wanted? Are you aware that you have hundreds of fans who would do anything for a chance to date you? You are a very attractive woman, been rated as the '#1 mage you'd like to have a fling with,' how does that make you feel? Have you ever considered giving other men a chance and dumping him?" – he turned to acknowledge Natsu for the first time since he had started his bombardment of questions – "No offense" – and then returned his attention to Lucy expectant for answers.

Time seemed to pass slowly for the fire dragon-slayer.

_Desired…_

_Attractive female…_

_Girlfriend…_

_Other male competitors…_

_Wanted..._

_Intimate details…_

_Leaving him…_

Natsu twitched, he was so beyond any degree of anger he didn't even feel when Lucy wrapped her arm around his and tightened her hold, "What the _fuck_ did you just say?"

* * *

Gajeel stretched as he saw Natsu thrust forward and punching the_ Sorcerer_ _Weekly's _reporter. Just seconds later, he felt a familiar presence to his right, "You knew Jason was following Lucy, didn't you?" The iron mage turned slightly to acknowledge the white-haired barmaid, raising his empty liquor glass and shaking it to signal he wanted a refill, "Of course I did. What sort of dragon-slayer would I be if I didn't?"

Mira looked at him mischievously as she poured the alcoholic drink, "You could've warned him." Gajeel smirked as his commonly devious persona emerged, "And miss the entertaining show the Salamander is putting on right now? I don't think so!" The bartender remained calmed and continued her conversation in the same tone, but the smile that appeared on her face betrayed her indifferent demeanor. It was clear she found the entire thing pretty amusing herself. "But there's more to it, isn't it, Gajeel?" she said. The black-haired mage smirked again, "Well, I needed to get the master off my back, and what better way to do that than to have Pinky over there char that idiot of a reporter to a crisp?" Mira returned his smile, pouring some more alcohol into his glass, "That's not very nice, you know?"

The two mages had been too engrossed in their own conversation to notice what had happened after Natsu had sent Jason flying with one of his fire iron fists. However, when they did turn to pay attention at the fire mage's predicamental situation, they managed to hear just about enough to know what to expect from the pink-haired dragon-slayer. Gajeel questioned, "Desired?"

"Hundreds of fans?" Mira said next.

"Dump him?" the iron mage continued.

"Oh my!" was all Mirajane managed to respond.

At about that time, Levy walked casually by and stopped in front of the two mages, "Mira, is your guitar still at the guild?" The white-haired barmaid, nodded, "It is, why?" The script mage ignored her question and turned to the iron dragon-slayer, "Gajeel, you better start singing _now_, before Natsu incinerates that reporter for real and is probably imprisoned for it." The iron mage fantasized, "Imprisoned?" he said, as a small grin made its way onto his face. "I said _now_, Gajeel!" Levy countered, successfully bringing him out of his reverie and making him stand up and go search for the musical instrument.

The bluenette sighed; the only thing that would take all of the attention away from Jason at this point was if Gajeel started one of his so-called "bonding musical numbers." She wasn't all that excited about it, but there was no other choice. That blond reporter was the _only_ living being on Earthland who thought her mate's music was like songs from the muses. In her opinion, it was more like songs from sirens – meaning it would drive you insane and procure your death. But if that would distract Jason from Lucy, then she would put up with it.

* * *

Lucy was not at all in a good mood. Besides having to put up with the annoying questions from the out-of-line reporter and his flirting, now she had to find a way to calm Natsu down. She only hoped Levy would hurry and take care of things on her end. As far as she was concerned, this wasn't her favorite way of dealing with this sort of situations; but _he_ had asked for her help and she could only oblige. The fire dragon-slayer was seriously pissed off and he was a ticking bomb about to explode, at any second.

The stellar mage squirmed her arm through Natsu's flexed body and grabbed a firm grasp of the arm closest to her. She couldn't blame the fire mage for feeling this way. The reported had truly crossed the line of the inappropriate and he had unawarely committed the four biggest offences against a mated dragon: One, offend a dragon's pride by coming onto his mate; two, challenge a dragon's claim by mentioning competitors for his mate's affection; three, disrespect a dragon's matting by undermining its sense of commitment and prying into its intimacy; and, four, threaten a dragon's and his mate's lives by suggesting one of them would abandon the other.

With her free hand, Lucy pulled her flauve d'étoiles and prepared herself for Levy's signal. It should come any second now. _The sooner the better,_ she thought, _Natsu won't hold back much longer. And I'm sure he'll seriously go all out this time._ Then she heard it, and her shoulders relaxed. Levy always delivered, she was always there when you needed her.

_"Shooby do Bop_

_The melody of love blue metallic_

_Duo duo duo_

_Sha la la"_

Gajeel had started singing; and no later than three seconds after the iron mage's appearance on the stage, Jason had redirected his attention to the singer. As expected, he was the only one enjoying the show, "Cool~! Best song ever!"

Lucy wasted no time. As soon as the reporter had taken his eyes off of her, she whipped her whip over her head and wrapped it around the blond male, who, upon feeling constricted by a mysterious magical tool, returned his attention to the stellar mage and her – … _Mmm, Salamander looks rather pissed…_ – boyfriend. "Lucy?" he managed to ask.

The blond mage smiled lightly, "Alright, listen closely, _Jason,_" she began, saying his name with particular disdain, "I'm going to make this as simple as possible." She paused momentarily and then proceeded to call on one of her spirits, "Gemini" she said, and seconds later, the two white creatures appeared murmuring their familiar "Pi~ri, pi~ri." Lucy looked at them, "You know what to do." The twins nodded and moved to touch Jason. "Information retrieval complete," they said in unison a few seconds later.

The stellar mage nodded and returned her gaze to the shocked and immobilized reporter, "This is how things are going to go. You are going to sign to me the rights of that picture you took last month of my ring. Then, you are going to make sure all current issues of the magazine are discontinued and collected. In exchange, I will give you a special interview for the reprinted issue."

Lucy saw the reporter frown. "If you refuse," she continued, "I'll make sure to tell your editor what you really think of him. Plus, I will make sure my mate, here, is informed of all the times you've fantasized about me." At the mention of the word "fantasized" the dragon-slayer tensed further, a reaction the _Sorcerer_ _Weekly's _reporter didn't fail to notice. "Trust me when I say Natsu Dragneel likes to hunt his prey and he never gives up. He will chase you, and he will find you, and he will make sure you wished you were dead," the stellar mage warned. The fire mage nodded menacingly to corroborate the blond's assertion, still glaring darkly at Jason and too infuriated to speak. "Do you understand what I am saying? Do we have a deal?" Lucy asked.

The reporter shook his head franticly, "Y-y-yes!"

The girl smirked. "Good. Now, all you have to do is sign this paper," she stated, just as Levy appeared next to the blond reporter waving an affidavit and a pen. The blue-haired mage loosened the tight grip on the trapped man and handed him the writing utensil. With a shaky hand, Jason signed the legal document, "There, it's done. Now, release me and let me leave." Lucy smirked, "You know better than to violate the agreement. I expect those magazines out of circulation by tomorrow."

The reporter nodded again, "Yes, Lucy-sama, I'll make sure of it, just keep the Salamander away from me and don't say anything unnecessary to my editor." The blond mage released Jason from her hold, "Very well. You may leave now." Before she had even finished her sentence, the reporter had already rushed out of Fairy Tail, leaving a small trail of dust on his path.

Lucy looked at Levy, "Thanks, Levy-chan. I'll pick up that paper later." The bluenette nodded and went back to the guild's bar to try to make her black-haired mate stop his torturous concert. "I'll see you later, Lu-chan," she said as she walked away, "I have my own problems to attend to."

The stellar mage turned her attention to her mate. Natsu was still fuming with rage and she couldn't blame him. His muscles were flexed and holding him firmly on his spot; his eyes still fixed at the last place the blond reporter had been seen. Lucy pulled on his arm, "Natsu, look at me," she commanded. The fire mage delayed his reaction; it was seriously taking every ounce of his willpower to stay where he was and not run to catch up with the idiotic reporter to teach him a lesson about boundaries. When he finally turned to look at his mate, the girl caressed his cheek with her free hand. She was still holding him tightly with her left. Her soothing touch relaxed him a bit, and he closed his eyes as he leaned onto her hand and let out the long and heavy breath he had been holding.

Lucy let the fire dragon-slayer calm down for a few seconds before speaking again, "Listen to me closely, Natsu. I am _never_ going to leave you, ever. And I don't care about any other man but you. You are my mate for life, Natsu Dragneel. _Always_ and _forever_." The pink-haired man took a deep breath and opened his eyes. His dark orbs fixed on her brown ones. He moved his own free hand to her neck and caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Always and forever, Lucy," he whispered, and then pulled the blond closer for a kiss. It was a rough and desperate kiss, full of frustrated emotions he could only liberate in this way, or by fighting an opponent to the point of exhaustion. His fingers buried deep in her scalp, and as he freed himself from the stellar mage's hold, he moved his other hand to her lower back and pulled her even closer. He didn't care who was watching; he didn't care what others were saying. All that mattered at that moment was the two of them, together.

The fire mage felt her arms circle around his neck as a light moan escaped her mouth. He barely gave her a second to breathe before he ravished her lips again. His sharp canines nipped her lower lip carelessly; her tongue taunted his as she licked his swollen lip. Both of her hands were playing with his hair now, and his own continued to pull forcefully at the nape of her head. Natsu wasn't entirely sure of how long they stayed like that, letting all of their feelings and emotions bare for the world to see. When he finally broke apart to gather his breathing, he looked at her and murmured again, "Always and forever, Lucy." The stellar mage smiled at him lovingly and nodded. He then lowered his head to peck her lips once more and then turned to the black-haired dragon-slayer who was still sitting on a stool at the guild's stage arguing with his guildmates about how they had no musical taste. "You, Metal-face!" he yelled angrily, "You _knew_ that bastard was following Lucy! You asshole, you could've told me!" The fire mage then launched himself towards Gajeel with lightened fire fists.

The second the fire dragon-slayer had yelled at his fellow slayer, all the mages who had been harassing the black-haired mage at the stage fled the area, knowing perfectly well what was to come. Gajeel had focused his attention on the pink-haired man and smirked deviously back at him, "And miss all the fun? No fucking way!" Mere seconds later, the fire mage was on top of him and ready for a fight. Gajeel had barely had enough time to throw Mira's guitar away from danger – a smart choice to avoid another Sitri bruising. The two dragon-slayers began their fight, rolling on the floor, leaving marks of burned or pierced wood on their path, grunting and yelling incomprehensible words.

Lucy sighed as she watched her mate "communicate" with the black-haired dragon-slayer. It was obvious Natsu was still not entirely over the episode with Jason and needed to vent some more. She made her way towards the bar, where Levy and Mira were sitting and chatting amiably. She approached the script mage and sat next to her, "Thanks for your help, Levy-chan. If you hadn't intervened when you did, I think Natsu might have actually tried to kill that reporter." The bluenette smiled back at her, "No problem, Lu-chan. A deal's a deal. You have that thing for me?" Lucy nodded, but before she could reach her purse, Mira interrupted. "What do you two mean?" she asked, intrigued and confused. Levy responded, "Well, I ran into Lu-chan at the store earlier when she was being followed by Jason. She managed to lose him for a brief moment and ask for my help in exchange of helping me with my own problem."

By now, the barmaid was even more confused, and the little group had been too immersed in their conversation to notice the two dragon-slayers had stop fighting and were now listening attentively. However, before the white-haired mage could ask the two to clarify what they were talking about, an unexpected voice echoed throughout the guildhall. It's lamentation made most of the mages in Fairy Tail wide-eyed and agape.

Not too far away from the three females, the master and his grandson had been exchanging some beer in pleasant conversation ever since Gajeel had left his office earlier that morning. The pleasantness had come to an abrupt end for the old man the second the fire mage had rushed towards the blond reporter and sent him flying in the air. _Ah! When is this kid going to learn that not every problem is solved with brute force!_ Makarov whined.

The master's good day had only gotten worse as it had progressed and ended up completely ruined after Lucy's little stunt. _Why me! I will never hear the end of it! The Council will have a field day with this!_ The short man was currently sobbing, while his grandson tried to awkwardly comfort him by patting him in the back rather forcefully. "Who would've known!" he cried as his hands went flying up in the air dramatically, "If I had known Lucy would end up blackmailing the magazine, I would have never asked her to help me stop Natsu's wave of destruction!" Makarov continued to bawl. "There, there, old man, at least you won't have to pay any more jewels for property damage," Laxus tried to console him.

Mirajane was astonished. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She turned to the blond girl in question with a quizzical look. "Lucy? What does he mean?" she asked. The stellar mage fixed her brown eyes on the older mage's. "Master asked me to deal with Natsu's 'extracurricular activities,' so when I saw that Jason would be here today, I just did what I had to do to make sure that picture never saw the light of day again," she responded plainly, "I had the luck of running into Levy-chan earlier, and asked her for help. She agreed and I told her I would recompense her for her troubles. That's it."

Mira looked at Levy next, "So, when you asked Gajeel to play the guitar…" Levy nodded as she interrupted her, "I was trying to get Jason distracted to give Lu-chan enough time to act." Lucy continued, "I wasn't expecting him to ask the sort of questions he did, but having Natsu so angry definitely ended up working out on our advantage."

The three mages' attention was caught by the fire dragon-slayer's words, still lying on the stage's floor and on top of a too-shocked-to-move Gajeel. "I feel so used!" he stated. The black-haired man looked at him, "Tell me about it!" The two dragon-slayers stood up from the floor after that and made their way to their mates. They gave each other a knowing look as they stepped off the stage, "Punishment, right?" the black-haired man whispered for only his companion to hear. Natsu smirked evilly, "You betcha!" and then gazed at Lucy, who was now staring at him.

The blond gasped. She could recognize that look anywhere. She rapidly grabbed her bag and pulled a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Levy, "That's my end of the bargain, Levy-chan. Hurry up and get out of here before Gajeel can see it!" The bluenette stood up from her stool as fast as she could, but the two dragon-slayers were already next to the blond. Without wasting any time, she pulled her solid script pen and wrote in the air the now familiar "paralyze" that immediately stopped the two men in their tracks. "Sorry boys, but you'll have to stay and be good for a few more minutes," she said as she began to unfold the paper Lucy had just given to her.

Levy smiled deviously; "It is perfect, Lu-chan!" she chimed joyously. The blue-haired mage then turned the paper so that Gajeel could look at it. He squinted in anger and seethed, "Levy~, what are you planning to do with that?" The script mage responded quickly, "Easy Gajeel, since you keep making it impossible for me to have a normal day in Magnolia, I'm going to make a few copies of this precious little thing right here and spread it around town. Wouldn't you say the blue leotard is very becoming? I think it does wonders for your figure."

Oh yes, the petite blue-haired demon had managed to get a hold of one of _those_ paintings Redus had done of him dressed up as Happy. _Fuck my life._ Apparently, this little stunt would follow him to his death. Stupid Salamander for making him dress that way after he lost that bet. More importantly, that Bunny Girl was seriously in trouble for procuring such picture. If he actually thought about it, it was to be expected. Ever since the day he had called her on her private enjoyment of her mate's shamelessness, he had kept bothering her for what was over three months now. He knew the blond mage would find some form of revenge; it was just a matter of time. _Damn it all!_ This was not going to end well.

"What do you want, Shrimp?" he asked annoyingly, letting a defeatist sigh escape his mouth. He could already guess, and he was not going to like it. "I want you to stop harassing every freaking soul that chooses to talk to me Gajeel! Either you stop, or I plaster this little image of you all over Magnolia. Your choice," the girl replied swiftly. The black-haired mage sighed one more time, "Okay, Levy, you win," he simply said.

Moments after he had spoken, the iron dragon-slayer turned to his left as the boisterous laugh of the pink-haired mage reached his ears. "Stay out of this, Salamander, or I swear I will make you pay for it," he warned. The fire mage stared at him, "I can't help it! It's too fucking funny, Metal-head. Blue really is your color. Besides, I think those fluffy ears and tail compliment you perfectly. I'm sure Erza would agree." Somewhere behind him, Gajeel heard the redhead mage confirm Natsu's statement. _Of course she would agree! Those fucking ears and tail were hers to begin with!_

A few seconds later, Natsu took a deep breath and spoke again, "Fine, fine. You win. Just," he paused as his expression changed from innocently amused to cockily dangerous, "If you need help punishing both girls, let me know. I'll be glad to help."

The iron mage smirked evilly, "Gi hee, you're on."

Both Levy's and Lucy's eyes widened after the fire dragon-slayer's statement. The stellar mage stood up from her seat and looked at her friend, "How much longer until they're free?" she asked. The bluenette turned towards her, "Not sure. I think it'd be better if…" Lucy nodded, "Run!" With nothing else said, the two women grabbed their stuff and sprinted out of the guild as fast as they could. "Where to?" Levy asked. "The train station!" the blond yelled back, "We have to make it into a moving vehicle. Hurry!" And off they went, disappearing from everyone's sight in an instant.

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The white-haired mage turned to look at the still immobilized dragon-slayers amusedly, "So, are you going to go after them?" The fire and iron mages smirked deviously back at her. "You can count on it," Natsu replied, as Gjeel nodded his agreement and his expression darkened. Out of nowhere, two flying hairballs appeared in front of them.

Standing on the bar's counter, Happy gave a knowing look at his foster father, "Would you two want a ride to the train station?" Lily, who was standing right next to the blue Exceed and smirking dangerously, nodded, "I bet we can get you on board even if the train has already left Magnolia's station." Finally, waiting for the right time, the blue-haired dragon-slayer approached her older guildmates, "I can cast Troia on you before you leave."

Natsu and Gajeel turned their attention towards Wendy. The girl was giving them an amused and playful look. _Happy was right when he said to watch out for this one, _the pink-haired mage reasoned. "What do you want in exchange, Pipsqueak?" the iron mage asked. He was no fool. It was only a matter of time before little Wendy grew up and started acting like one of them. The sky dragon-slayer side grinned, "Let's just say you'll owe me a _favor_ in return." The older mages gasped surprised, realizing their little dragon sister had been listening into their conversations for a really long time. Damn those hyper senses; from now on, they'd have to be more careful about half of what they told one another. It was not because they were afraid Wendy was too innocent to understand what they were saying; it was precisely because they both knew the _opposite_ was in fact the case. Last thing either dragon-slayer wanted was to start giving the younger girl ideas about her own mating. Oh no, when that time came around, they'd be sure to make the poor sucker go through all the different rings of hell and back before even letting him touch her. Those would be good times to look forward to.

Natsu smirked at the younger dragon-slayer, "You've been pretty busy, haven't you Wendy?" Said girl giggled, "You could say that Natsu-san. So, do we have a deal?" Both male dragon slayers nodded. Wendy still had at least another two years before she started to seriously consider finding a mate. They knew the girl would hold that favor for as long as she needed to, and they would honor their promise when the time came. But for now, the blue-haired mage was offering them the chance to have unprecedented fun with their mates, and they'd be idiots if they denied themselves the pleasure of doing so. Who _wouldn't_ want to chase his mate around a moving train? It was like a game of cat and mouse where the one doing the chasing was bound to win, and that so happened to be them.

"You've got yourself a deal," the iron mage said first, followed by a nod from Natsu and his own verbal confirmation, "Deal." Levy's enchantment broke a few minutes later. Gajeel turned to look at Natsu, "Ready, Salamander?" The pink-haired mage smirked evilly and nodded. Gajeel smirked back, he knew teaming up with the fire-breathing Salamander would result in unprecedented heaps of fun. Wendy then casted her spell on both males, and the two Exceeds extended their wings and grabbed a hold of each mage. "Later!" Natsu said, as he and Happy set flight; "Don't wait up kids," Gajeel added.

The four figures disappeared through Fairy Tail's doors, leaving the rest of their guildmates shocked, amused, or bewildered. Only Mira had been close enough to listen to the exchange of words between the three dragon-slayers. However, mages like Gray, Erza, and Juvia were close enough to their friends to know what to expect from the two dragon-slayers. They wouldn't be seeing those two or their mates for a few days. Other members were still trying to assimilate this new version of an evil Lucy, while the rest were too shocked to see the still depressed form of their master crying his heart out on top of the bar's counter, his body curled in fetal position with an uncomfortable Laxus trying to alleviate him. There was never a "normal" day at Fairy Tail – That much, they could all agree on.

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So, how was it? Please do let me know what you thought of this chapter. And I hope you all enjoyed my little "treats."

Next chapter, Mmmm... I'd say this story still needs a nice fluffy closing. ;)


	10. Chapter 10

Hello everyone! First of, thanks for everyone who reviewed, faved, and alerted. I can't believe it's close to 100 reviews...  
To my unnamed guest reviewer: Thanks a bunch for the review. As for Wendy's mate... well, keep reading.

So, yeah, what can I say... Sorry for the beyond-late update, to make a long story short, shit happens. Anyways, so here is chapter 10, the last chapter to "A Favor." Its 9,026 words, so do enjoy the extra-longness of it, by far the longest chapter I've ever written.

I won't say anything about this chapter; I'll just let you get right into it. However, I would like to thank all of my reviewers overall. **You are the most awesome followers ever.** Especially, I'd like to thank 89niners-best-team-ever and Hejmdal for reviewing every chapter. Elfman would like to say that you're the man and woman(now that he knows that such a word exists, lol)!

Still, without all of you, this story wouldn't be what it is, so **thanks everyone**!

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Disclaimer: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.

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"A Favor"

Chapter 10:

Natsu walked out of the bathroom, shaking his head in an effort to try to get rid of the excess water in his hair. He was wearing his "more mature" boxer-briefs today – which meant they were of a solid dark red print with an elastic band decorated with little yellow dragons in different attack poses. He ran his magically warmed fingers through his pink locks to quicken the drying process. A smile made its way onto his face as he approached his bedroom's bed and looked at Lucy's sleeping form. She looked peaceful and still profoundly asleep. In fact, he was surprised himself to be up this early in the morning after the party they had both attended the night before. Fairy Tail had always been known for its out-of-control parties, but last night had definitely set a new record high. He assumed that, after last night, Magnolia's government officials would think twice before allowing a Fairy Tail wedding to take place in their city.

Both Lucy and Natsu had been the maid of honor and best man of the ceremony, respectively. Lisanna had acted as the only other bridesmaid, next to that _other_ iced nuisance as the only groomsman. The ceremony was conducted at Kardia's cathedral at noon and the reception had taken place at Fairy Tail. However, once the drinking had started, all hell had broken loose, and highly intoxicated guild members had spread around Magnolia to unleash all sort of chaos.

Magnolia looked worse than after the so-called festival Fairy Tail had had when Laxus had tried to take over the guild. Even Mira had ended up drunk, and that was definitely a first. The bride and groom didn't seem to care and were too concerned with each other to notice any of the destruction as they left for their honeymoon later in the evening to some exclusive hotel near the beach. The guild had collectively paid for the couple's two-week stay there, and the two newlyweds were very grateful.

Natsu had made sure to bet with his fellow black-haired dragon-slayer that the two would return with a plus one in their party. What else were they going to do in a fancy hotel intended for romantic getaways? Given who the bride was, the pink-haired mage had managed to piss off Gajeel enough to bet against him. Poor sucker, he'd be losing a fair amount of jewels all thanks to his male pride. _All the better for me_, Natsu thought as he chuckled quietly, moving to pull the blankets over Lucy's sleeping body.

The pink-haired dragon-slayer walked towards the window after he had finished his task, looking at the rising sun. He was happy for them. After three years of ups and downs, Gray had finally asked Juvia to remain his forever. It was about time, if you asked him. Juvia had known she'd found the man she wanted to share her life with the second she had met the stripping Popsicle, but it had taken a much longer time for him to realize the same thing. One of Natsu's favorite things once the couple had gotten together was to witness the water mage's jealousy outbursts that resulted in floods of all shapes and sizes and usually ended up involving innocent bystanders.

Juvia behaved very similarly to the way both dragon-slayers did, and they particularly took pleasure in watching the woman make a grand variety of different scenes in all sorts of places and around all types of people. Both him and Gajeel laughed hysterically at the ice mage's expense, and, whenever the iced pervert caught them at it, he would start a monumental fight that almost every time resulted in the guild's partial destruction. It was fun as hell; that is, joining forces with Metal-freak to gang up on the paradoxically reserved stripper known as Gray Fullbuster.

Teaming up with Gajeel had actually become something of a frequent activity for Natsu – rarely for a job, but often for some night of fun in town. The black-haired mage knew how his twisted mind worked pretty well, so the two could really go overboard when they wanted to. He still remembered that first time they had worked together. Just thinking about it brought a wide sinister smile to his face. That "search and retrieve" mission through one of Fiore's moving trains had really been one of the best times he had ever had in his life.

The train with both their mates had, indeed, already left Magnolia station when the two dragon-slayers arrived, so Happy and Lily had to drop them at the last cart. As it was to be expected, the second they had reached the moving vehicle and landed on the railing, Gemini had appeared out of nowhere and made sure to retrieve all necessary information from the two males. It was obvious both Lucy and Levy would have expected the boys to follow them and had come up with some delaying plan, and phase one meant knowing how the two dragon-slayers were thinking of proceeding. Having a smart mate definitely had its perks – navigating through the girls' traps would _definitely_ make everything all the more fun and _exciting_.

When they entered the first cart, Gajeel stepped into a floor that had been mined with holes by Virgo's characteristic handiwork. Had it not been by the black-haired mage's quick thinking and one of his long iron swords, the girls would have won before the game had even started. Once he had made it back safely onto the railing, the two dragon-slayers realized what they were about to get into, their smirks growing wider and wilder as they let their battle and survival instincts take over.

Once they entered the second cart, Loke was waiting for them, particularly keen on giving it his all to stop the two males from moving forward. The Lion spirit had greeted them with an arrogant side grin, his body aching to return the pink-haired man's favors with interest. As it was to be expected, the spirit was already angry with Natsu for burning his hair a few days back, and he really didn't show any restrain. Natsu assumed he had come out using his own magic in order to preserve Lucy's, which led him to believe they had a long way to go in order to reach their mates.

Leo actually ended up detaining them for longer than either Natsu or Gajeel had expected. He possessed incredible martial arts techniques that counteracted the dragon-slayers' fast reflexes and movements. Such melee abilities matched with his Regulus magic had given them a pretty decent fight, while destroying most of the cart in the process. Eventually, however, as it was meant to happen by having two very powerful and determinate mages as his opponents, Leo tired out and allowed Gajeel to land a blow on him that sent him back to the Sprit World.

High-fiving after their joined victory, the two dragon-slayers moved forward, but every cart they went into, they encountered some sort of trap, whether it was some of Levy's spells or one of Lucy's spirits. Still, both males moved through each and every one of those train compartments. And every time they reached a new town and stopped at its station, they had to decide whether the Levy or Lucy they saw running through the crowded platform was indeed one of the real girls or just Gemini taking one of their forms. Natsu had never felt his adrenaline running higher, and Gajeel had confessed some time after that he had felt the same way.

This was a game of endurance. The pink-haired fire mage supposed the two girls would have anticipated Wendy casting Troia on the two of them. Perhaps they had envisioned them begging her to do it instead of what had actually happened, but, either way, the girls knew this was all a race to outlast the effects of Wendy's spell. The dragon-slayers were completely focused on getting to their mates, and unluckily for the traveling bystanders, neither mage had time to waste to stop and consider them.

Neither had the girls, if he might add. First, there were Levy's secret solid script spells dropping like crazy every other cart, throwing all sorts of attacks (excluding, of course, those containing the two elements the dragon-slayers manipulated), regardless of the poor soul they ended up attacking. Passengers had been laid unconscious, vomit induced, paralyzed, scared out of their minds, or blown through the room with a "Gale Force Wind" spell that Natsu had never seen before. Gajeel had commented how much he particularly despised that spell. Apparently, the "Shrimp," as he so often called her, liked to use it a lot when she wanted to get away from the iron mage's reach without having to move herself, which resulted in him getting blown out of their bedroom window more times that he could count. _No wonder he's given up on replacing that windowpane_, Natsu concluded.

Then, there were Lucy's spirits. Avoiding Cancer's scissors to make sure they wouldn't get knocked out, and who Gajeel seemed to had pounded on harder than even Loke. Natsu assumed his attitude had something to do with the fact that falling to Cancer could result in him losing his own prideful mane that had taken who knew how many years to grow and refusing to let all of his hard work go to waste. The fire mage momentarily wished the spirit had, in fact, cut his hair. He could bet the look on Metal-head would be priceless, but that would have to be left for a future prank since currently they had mates to chase.

Next was Taurus, who Lucy had apparently misinformed about the situation and seemed adamant to protect his mistress's gorgeous body from the dragon-slayers' hands that wanted to pierce and tattoo it on several places. Damn, could Lucy come up with some good bullshit! No wonder she was a writer. Natsu had delivered the finishing blow on the perverted bull once he had said something about how he should be allowed to fondle some of the blond's curves if he accomplished his mission. That comment had definitely raised the pink-haired mage's fire's temperature a few degrees and made his fire dragon's iron fist three times stronger, sending the spirit flying through one of the train's walls as his form disappeared into the unknown. Gajeel had guffawed in his characteristic way and said something about how much fun it was to see the "fired up" Salamander "_truly_ fired up." Natsu remembered scowling at him, deciding to refrain from using his fists and mentioning instead something about how he was just as possessive as he was.

When they reached the restaurant compartment, all hell broke loose. Well, technically, all hell had _already_ broken loose the moment the two dragon-slayers had landed on the train. All the carts behind them had been either partially or completely destroyed by them, with or without the help of Lucy's spirits. However, once the smell of food entered the males' nostrils, the sudden realization that they hadn't eaten all day had come crashing down on them. It had taken every fiber of willpower in their beings to keep away from the delicious fragrances that invaded their sense of smell, but they knew the delicacies had been probably tampered with. The fact that there was a conveniently placed plate of fire chicken and some chocolate-covered nails on the table closest to the door, further confirmed the boys' suspicions.

Finally, after who knew how many hours past and miles traveled, the two dragon-slayers had made their way through all but three of the train compartments. At about that time, the train stopped at a new town and Natsu watched as Levy, once again, ran through the busy platform; only, this time, the girl was carrying a familiar yellow purse with her. Natsu had yelled to Gajeel to get a hold of her scent, and, after his reassuring nod, the two men burst out of the train, destroying another cart in the process. Just then, Lucy had flown over their heads with her whip tied on some lamppost ahead. The two men had been kind of shocked by the blond's agility and dexterity and had stopped dead on their tracks, mouths agape as they watched her swing swiftly and land next to her bluenette friend. Without wasting another minute, the two females had disappeared through the crowd, leaving the still immobile dragon-slayers behind.

Catching up with the girls hadn't been much of a task after that. After all, the two dragon-slayers were faster and had those heightened senses to aid them in their pursuit. To their credit, Lucy and Levy had run into a very expensive thermal bath resort and locked themselves in one of the facility's elevators. The two men had actually seen them smile back at them when they had showed up at the resort, since the elevator was all made of glass. Gajeel had turned to Natsu at that time and told him just how busted those two were. That look on the girls' faces proved just how much they had enjoyed their little trip around Fiore and trying to outwit their dragon-slayer mates.

The couples ended up staying for a little over a week at the resort; the dragon-slayers secretly praising Mavis all-mighty for making it a thermal bath resort and spa which meant little to no clothing required, which, in itself, meant tons of sorry losers ogling their ridiculously good looking mates in skimpy bikinis (all thanks to Virgo's own perverted taste in making clothing for Lucy, and in this case, her three friends) which resulted in them getting excuses to engage in several "jealousy" fights. Needless to say, the two dragon-slayers had made sure to tease their mates about their attitude for the duration of their "vacation" at the resort. Natsu particularly, since it was now clear he was not the only one who enjoyed random and in mass destruction.

Their escapade had most definitely resulted in one of the highest bills Master Makarov had ever received. All four Fairy Tail mages involved were just beyond glad they hadn't been present when he had gotten it. According to Gray, Mirajane, and Laxus (who had been forced into the comforter position once again, much to his anger and dismay), the master had been so pissed he had yelled in his angered rant he was even considering expelling them from the guild for their ludicrous behavior. Natsu couldn't really blame the old guy. The property damage had indeed been calamitous; it extended to five different towns, plus the added individual claims of numerous bystanders that had found themselves in the way of the persecuted mates or the persecuting dragon-slayers –varying from monetary remuneration to psychological and medical treatment–, and the extra damages to the final town once the boys had finally managed to reach the two girls (which also included part of the bills for their last minute vacation).

Natsu assumed he must have spent longer than expected reminiscing and looking out the window, since, next thing he knew, the sun was fully out and shinning down brightly on him. He felt the familiar arms of his mate circle around his waist as she whispered, "Up already, handsome?" He smiled, chucking a little, and moved his hands to hold onto her arms tightly, "Morning, sleepyhead. Glad to see you woke up in a good mood."

She giggled and kissed his neck, "Well, thanks to that awesome spell from Wendy, I haven't had a hangover in years." He laughed openly after her answer, not without quivering a little after her affectionate morning treat. It had been over four years since they had been together like this, and she still managed to elicit all sorts of involuntary responses out of his body.

"Sure as hell comes in handy," he replied. He loosened her hold on him and turned to face her. His hand moved to comb her unruly morning hair as he said, "You should get ready. You need a shower to get the smell of liquor out of you, and I need to meet that Metal-head at the guild."

Lucy pouted and frowned. "Are you trying to say I _reek_, Natsu Dragneel?" she asked as she pulled her arms away from him, faking annoyance.

He chucked once more and forcefully pulled her back towards him, making her camisole-covered chest press against his naked one. "No. I'm saying I want you to stop smelling like alcohol so I can make sure you smell of _nothing_ _else but me_ once you exit that shower, Lucy _Dragneel_."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few seconds with amused smiles adorning their blissful countenances. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips before breaking away and heading to the bathroom without saying another word. Natsu watched her leave, following the movement of her hips as they swayed from side to side until she disappeared behind the closed bathroom door. His smile widened, "Lucy Dragneel." He loved the sound of that name. It had officially become hers seventeen months ago after he had arranged all legal documents on his state.

As the son of a dragon, he didn't believe in participating in the whole wedding business. To him, the pledge of commitment was the deepest gesture of affection between two mates. He still, however, wanted the Fiorian government to give Lucy all the rights a spouse should be recognized with, so one morning he had dragged her to Magnolia's City Hall and signed a marriage license. There had been no grand ceremony, unlike the one that had just taken place the day before. He had asked the guild to respect his wishes, and no one had forced a ridiculously big party on their behalf. They did, however, use the news as a great excuse to blow responsibility out the window and get drunk for a night, though. He didn't care as long as they left his intimate business with his mate private.

Natsu had really learned to love that document once his possessiveness had ganged up on him the night after the signing and he came to the rather late realization that she would now bear _his_ name. That was perhaps the only thing the pink-haired dragon-slayer liked about the human ceremony, but he had to admit he liked it _a lot_. The paper lied proudly nailed to his wall of fame in his house ever since that day. He had decided long ago that if changing her name to "Lucy Dragneel" didn't yell to the four winds who held the blond stellar mage's feelings for the bunch of persistent idiots who continued to pester them, nothing else would. Some people were just dumb and stubborn, and not in a good way. Despite the years, he still enjoyed putting those bastards in their place, though; and he doubted that would ever change.

Natsu walked into the closet and searched for clean clothes, stepping out shortly after to find his scarf messily tied around the bedpost. He heard the shower as it stopped running, and, soon, Lucy came out wrapped in a white towel. She approached him and stopped before him. "Would you mind?" she asked, "It's so much faster when you do it." Natsu smiled, dropping his clothes on the bed before saying, "Sure thing, Lucy," and digging his warmed up fingers through her blond tresses. He couldn't deny that he loved to do this as much as she enjoyed him doing it.

After a few minutes, once her hair had been completely dried off, he slid one of his hands down to get a firm hold of the strands of hair on the nape of her neck. "Now, for that scent problem of yours," he added with a husky voice, grinning seductively at her and pulling her forward until his mouth was covering hers completely. She let one of her hands reach up and run through his pink locks while the other glided through his naked torso and stopped when her fingers hooked on his underwear's waistband. She pulled down on them teasingly. Natsu growled and forcefully ripped the towel off her body, his free hand running indelicately over her exposed midriff.

His tongue moved lustfully with hers as her hand left his hair and curled around his neck, bringing their bodies closer together and deepening their kiss in the process. She broke apart to breathe, letting her head hung back as he instantly moved his mouth over her sensitive neck. He heard her moan his name, successfully driving the dragon-slayer into ecstasy. He forcibly pushed their bodies over the bed, throwing the neatly folded clothes unceremoniously onto the floor and letting his ardent desires take over as he crawled on top of her.

* * *

Gajeel woke up finding himself lying over a patch of humid grass instead of in the comfort of his soft bed and his mate's warmth. His hands instantly made their way onto the sides of his head as he incorporated. "What the fuck happened last night?" he wondered aloud. "Did I end up here on my own or did that blue-headed deviled Shrimp tossed me out of our room again?" After shaking his headache away, he stood up and looked around him. Nope, this wasn't Levy's work. For some reason or another, the iron dragon-slayer had dragged his sorry drunk ass to Magnolia's park.

To further his predicament, he had – for some other mysterious reason – dropped his tuxedo into the fountain and wrapped his bowtie around the neck of the dancing naked cupid sculpture at the center of the fountain. _What the…? How much did I actually drink last night?_

He suddenly seemed to think that there was something important he was failing to remember, but no matter how hard he tried to search the recondite spaces of his metal mind, he kept coming up on empty. Before he could continue his pondering, a girl's frightening scream forced him to turn and face the child. The ten year old was pointing at him, not taking her eyes away from him. After a few seconds of staring, she yelled again, "Mamma! Mamma! A naked pervert! A naked, freaky pervert that looks like an ugly beast is staring at me!"

Gajeel scowled, _What do you mean I look like an ugly beast, you annoying brat!_ Her mother soon came into view, and if the girl's screaming had been annoying, her mother's wails were on an entirely new level. He furrowed his eyebrows and ran his left hand through what he presumed was his disarrayed-beyond-relief mane of black hair. Suddenly, it hit him, _Wait, what did she mean by "naked?"_ He lowered his lazy red eyes only to find out he had pulled an Ice-freak and was currently standing on a park, in the middle of the day, on a Sunday, surrounded by children, in what Mira liked to call "his birthday suit."

"Fuck!" his mouth automatically uttered. _Great_, now add to his current dilemma the fact that he was cursing, naked, in front of children of all ages and their pissed off parents. _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ He frantically looked around for his clothes, not caring to cover himself at the moment, and finding his underwear over one of the agape fish heads splurging water out of its thick lips into the center of the fountain. He had to admit the stupid fish looked beyond hilarious with his boxer-briefs acting as a pseudo wig that made the fish look remarkably like Warren. _Gi hee! Fucking hilarious!_

"Hey, you, pervert, have some decency and cover yourself. There are children around!" some random voice yelled out.

The iron mage scowled and walked over the fountain to retrieve his underwear, which was surprisingly dry, and put it on. He then turned to where he had heard the annoyed voice yell at him, finding a man holding to whom he presumed to be his son by the hand. He tsked, "Don't be a fucking hypocrite. That fucking, pussy angel is just as naked as I was two seconds ago."

That did it. His little audience all stood frozen in their place with their mouths so open, a mid-sized bird could have chosen the cavity to make its nest. _Idiots._ Without another word, Gajeel picked the rest of his clothes up, except for the bowtie, and made his way back to his house in the outskirts of Magnolia. _I'm sure this will come back to haunt me later. I bet those assholes will go complain to Makarov._ He shrugged, _Fuck it. _If he woke up on a fountain naked, who knew where the rest of his crazy guildmates had ended up! All he knew was that he wasn't alone in this. _That fucking party last night was seriously something._

Once he was close enough, he smelled his mate's distinct scent; he side grinned in his characteristic way. Levy and Gajeel had been living together for almost two years now, and around eight months or so ago, he had pledged himself to her. When he opened the door, he found the place turned completely upside down. That wasn't very common. Ever since she had moved in, their house tended to stay clean and tidy. He tossed his wet clothes into the laundry bag as he entered with his perfectly practiced aim.

"Hey, Levy, you here?" he said, walking into the living room with a quizzical expression, still trying to figure out what could have possibly happened to his house. He made his way into his bedroom, finding his mate's sleeping body spread all over their bed's mattress. Correction, make that his mate's _seminude_ sleeping body. He chuckled and kneeled before her, pushing his weighty hand lightly onto her shoulder in an effort to wake her up. "Hey, Shrimp, wakey, wakey. It's noon already."

The blue-haired girl opened one of her eyes, revealing its hazel iris staring menacingly back at him. The second she fixed her angry gaze on his, that important thing the dragon-slayer had kept trying to remember since he had woken up came crashing down on him.

Last night, as they made it back home from Juvia and Gray's wedding, Gajeel had tried to seduce Levy and she had continuously pushed him away, refusing to let him have his way in one of Magnolia's dark alleys. She didn't care how drunk they were or how arousing he found the entire enterprise. Having sex on a public place was _never_ going to happen, no matter how much he begged her to give in to that stupid fantasy of his. Since he was drunk, he had been very stubbornly persistent, and she had been forced to recur to _that_ form of blackmail. For years, it had been Levy's greatest not-so-secret weapon when dealing with her troublesome mate.

After that eventful day Jason had showed up to upset Natsu to new levels of endangerment, she had managed to acquire the best bargaining chip against Gajeel. By the time the dragon-slayers had caught up to her and Lucy at the resort, they had forgotten all about the little embarrassing picture that had triggered the entire thing. The girls hadn't chosen the thermal baths by mistake; they knew their mates' minds would get clouded with a whole new range of other _distracting_ thoughts and ignore the reason why they had followed them there. Before jumping out of the train, Lucy had called on Loke and handed him the drawing, making him promise to keep it in the Celestial Realm regardless of what Gajeel, or anyone else, cared to offer for it in exchange. And the celestial spirit always kept his promises, just like his master.

Weeks later, the two couples were discussing the issue of who had won their little game, and, of course, the males had kept boasting of their undisputed victory. That was until Lucy had tired of them and corrected their wrong assumptions with a sinister smile. The dragon-slayers' equally awestruck faces were still the most hilarious sight the script mage had ever seen in her life. Realizing they had been so overwhelmingly defeated they hadn't even _noticed_ had definitely stopped their bragging. Of course, every time Gajeel did something out of line, Levy would make reference to the safely guarded proof of the most embarrassing moment of his life. He hated it; she loved it – simple as that.

After the mention of the disgraceful picture the previous night, the iron mage had stop insisting. However, the second they entered their home, he had resumed his teasing and started trying to get her off her dress. Levy's dress was actually a gift from Lucy. It was a beautiful garment made in the Celestial Realm, which Gajeel had managed to tear in ten seconds flat the instant he had managed to get his hands on her. The angry, still somewhat drunk, and underwear-clad woman had chased the black-haired mage around their entire house, until she finally caught up to him near the door. Wasting no time, she pulled her solid script pen from her garter and spelled a "Gale Force Wind" that sent him flying through the dark night into who knew where. She had then huffed annoyed and made her way back inside, collapsing onto their bed and succumbing to sleep almost instantly.

Before Levy could manage to open her mouth to yell at her careless mate, he stood up and swiftly pulled her onto his lap as he sat on the bed's edge. She struggled to get away from him, moving her knees in an attempt to stand up, but he held onto her firmly. Levy glowered at him, "Gajeel, let me go!"

"I'm sorry about the dress, Levy," he stated, ignoring her demands. "You said it yourself, I can be an insensitive ass when I want to. I'll talk to Bunny Girl and make sure she gets you a new one, okay? Hell, I'll bug the shit out of her until she agrees to have that pink-haired weirdo make you and even prettier one."

The blue-haired mage sighed, stopping her movements; she knew Gajeel would really harass the fuck out of Lucy until she agreed to his request. The man below her could really be the stupidest of idiots and the most affectionate of partners, all at the same time. What she hated the most about the entire thing was that she couldn't really stay mad at the almost-naked mess of a man she called her mate. She had her at "sorry" and "Levy." The dragon-slayer rarely apologized, and he only called her by her first name when he was completely and utterly serious and honest.

She laid her elbows on his shoulders, bringing her body closer to his in the process, and began to play with his troublesome hair. "It's alright, Gajeel. Don't annoy Lu-chan too much," she said, staring into his entrancing red eyes and giving him a soft smile.

The iron mage released his strong grip on her hip and started to caress her waist slowly. "I'll try. No promises, though," he answered, providing his own grin. Zeref forbid he passed out on the chance of messing with the blond-haired mage, which guaranteed him one hell of a fun fight with the Salamander later. That action, of course, also had the very likely possibility that the stellar mage would unleash some of her sprit-breaking revenges. _Maybe I should just ask nicely… and beat the shit out of the Salamander anyways._

Levy pulled on his hair lightly. "So," she asked amusedly, "Care to explain what the hell happened to you?"

Gajeel laughed, "Well, a certain blue-haired demon sent my obnoxious drunk ass flying last night. Apparently, I found some new source of entertainment in that stupid fountain in Magnolia's park, and I ended up decorating it with my stupidly annoying penguin suit." He stopped momentarily to pick up the girl and allow her feet to circle over his waist, silently reveling on the new form of contact between their lower bodies. "I have no fucking clue what happened next. I just know I woke up naked in front of a crowd of children, and I might have taken shit too far and taught those nosy brats a few new words."

He heard the script mage giggle at his morning adventure. Making a walking motion with his right hand fingers, he moved them up her waist to her bra's lacy underwire, playing casually with it. "So, what's with the sexy number, Shorty?" he seductively said as he let his fingers graze over the fabric. "Is this for me?" he added, dangerously bringing his mouth close to her cleavage.

His hot breath tickled her sensitive skin, gasping as she nodded and murmured a stuttering "Ye-yes." The dark-haired mage kissed his way up her chest in an excruciating slow pace, feeling his partner tightening her hold on his hair and waist. He smirked arrogantly over her skin, and let his hands continue their unreserved perusal of her body. One found its way down towards her bottom while the other cupped one of her lace-covered breasts.

When he reached her neck, Levy pulled his hair strongly, forcing his mouth to leave her skin. Using her free hand, she cupped his cheek and whispered, "My turn," crashing her lips over his passionately. Her tongue instantly found his and she dominantly pushed and tugged over his lips and mouth. Gajeel growled in response to her playful aggressiveness and his hands moved to grab her by her hips again. Without breaking the intense kiss, he lifted her up and flipped her over onto the bed, letting his weight fall over her. She tightened the hold over his hair as he lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "Why do you even care about that dress? I think you look way better without it."

She giggled, placing one hand over his shoulder while the other cupped his left cheek. He stared deeply into her eyes as he laid on his forearms over her. She smiled up at him as she caressed his cheek affectionately, later combing the unruly short stands of hair that insisted on falling over his face. He returned her gesture with one of those smiles reserved exclusively for her. "I think we need to shower, Gajeel. I reek of food and alcohol, and you stink of a mixture of sewer water, liquor, dirt, and sweat," she finally said, breaking the silence.

"Damn it, Levy, way to ruin the moment!" Gajeel growled on top of her, as he prepared to stand up. The blue-haired mage held him firmly by his forearm before he could completely incorporate, lifting herself up to give him a quick peck on the lips before adding, "I never said we should do it separately." She then squirmed from under him, taking advantage of his shock, and made her way to their bathroom and turned the shower on.

The dragon-slayer snapped out of his stupor seconds latter, realizing the implications of her words. "Gi hee, damned woman always manages to amaze me… In all the possible meanings of the word." Not even a minute after the girl had slipped into the bathroom, he moved with incredible speed towards it, jumping into the shower with her back in his clutches.

* * *

Happy flew jovially into Fairy Tail, not stopping until he reached the bar's counter. The guild smelled strongly of disinfectant, and the debris of what had once been tables, stools, and benches had already been gathered at one of the corners of the building. The place was empty, not surprising the Exceed by even a second. All of Fairy Tail had really surpassed themselves this time; he was sure they would be hearing not only from Magnolia's officials but from the Magic Council as well.

Mirajane suddenly entered the guildhall as she exited the kitchen, bringing with her a large carton box. She dropped the heavy box on the counter, and the particular sound of what could only by glass hitting glass let the blue cat know those were probably replacements for last night. "Good morning, Mira! How are you feeling?" he asked cheerfully.

"Wonderful, Happy! I did have a terrible headache when I first woke up, but Wendy was nice enough to take care of that problem earlier," the white-haired mage replied, shinning a bright smile back at him. "There's so much that needs to be done!" she added.

Happy grinned, "Aye, sir! We really got out of hand last night." He waited a few seconds, and then approached the white-haired barmaid, putting on his cute-beyond-relief face. "Mira," he said, staring her down with his little pout, "Could you get me a fish? You see, Natsu burned half the kitchen down last night and that included the fridge. I'm really hungry… and I really didn't want to be there when Lucy walked out of their room and suddenly remembered why Natsu had burned the kitchen."

Mira giggled, and petted the Exceed's furry head. "Sure thing, Happy. Don't worry." She walked back into the kitchen and brought back a large fish, almost as if she had been expecting him to ask for one. "Here," she said as she handed it to the cat. "Now, _why_ exactly did Natsu decide to burn his own home?" she asked, incapable of withholding her curiosity. _Some things will never change,_ Happy mentally told himself.

Happy took a few large bites of the chubby animal before answering. Regardless of how much he had stuffed himself the night before with yummy food, he could always find some space left in his stomach for fish. "Well," he began, using his free paw to scratch the back of his head as he swallowed, "You know how Loke always chooses the worst times to show up unannounced?" He saw the girl nod, and he continued, "I'm not entirely sure what happened 'cause I went straight to my room when we got back home. I think Natsu wanted to play with Lucy and I could make out their giggling at times, but next thing I know, Natsu is cursing and I then I heard a loud bang. I rushed out of my room to find Loke with no hair again, the kitchen half destroyed, and Natsu and Lucy in their underwear."

Mira gave him a quizzical look, "And Lucy wasn't mad at Natsu for burning their house down, or at Loke for showing up like that?"

The blue Exceed raised his shoulders, "I don't know. Natsu was really livid, though. He kept gritting his teeth and saying between breaths how Loke should be blinded or something like that, while he shoved a blanket over Lucy's shoulders."

Mira stared at him for a brief moment, trying to put all the pieces together. "Mira," Happy said worryingly. The barmaid shook her head, "Ah, I'm fine, Happy. I was just thinking… Anyways, do you want to help me get the guild ready for our crazy friends?"

The white-haired mage watched the cat frown, averse to the idea of doing any sort of work. "I'll give you some of that tuna you like so much in exchange," she said next. Instantly, the little furry creature's smile returned. He raised his right paw, placing it in a salute position. "Aye, sir! Why didn't you say so before?" he said enthusiastically.

_Some things will never change,_ Mira thought as she smiled back at the gluttonous blue cat.

* * *

Lucy found herself being pulled to the side the second she made it into the sanitized guild. "I need to talk to you, Bunny Girl," Gajeel said as he grabbed the blond mage's hand, forcing her to let go of Natsu's hand.

"What the fuck, Metal-head! Let go of her," the upset pink-haired dragon-slayer yelled annoyingly, grabbing a hold of the blond's wrist and pulling her back towards him. Natsu watched the iron mage shake her hand some more and continue in his task, giving him an amused smirk. He scowled.

"Relax, Salamander, I'll only take fifteen minutes of her time," Gajeel responded, not letting go of the stellar mage, who kept being pulled from one side to the other by the relentless dragon-slayers. "Just go find Wendy and see why the fuck she wanted us here," he added, "I'll be right there."

Natsu's annoyed expression disappeared and was replaced by a knowing smirk. "I'll still beat the shit out of you for touching her later and dragging her like a rag doll," he said before he skipped his way towards the bar.

Lucy giggled and turned to face the iron dragon-slayer. He stared at her momentarily with an inquisitive raised eyebrow. "He just has some pent-up anger he needs to get rid of," she explained. His red eyes bore on her, "Why? What did his drunk ass do?" She let her own knowing smirk come forth, "What did _you_ do last night, Gajeel?" He huffed, finally releasing his hold of her, "Long story short, I woke up naked at Magnolia's park and ended up perverting a rather large crowd of insolent brats this morning… Now, what did Fire-breath do?" Lucy chuckled. "Did that, by any chance, had anything to do with Levy flying you out the window, again?" she rhetorically asked, just to upset the iron mage some more.

Gajeel glared at her and refused to even grace her with an answer. After a few seconds of staring daringly at each other, the blond mage finally spoke, "Loke self-invoked himself last night onto our living room and saw me in my underwear, so Natsu burned half our kitchen down and left poor Loke in an even worse state."

Gajeel guffawed. "Can't say I blame him, though. I'd poke the fool's eyes out to keep him for prying into what's not meant to be seen," he added seriously. He watched the girl stare at him amusedly and say, "You know, sometimes, I wish I didn't find how those twisted dragon minds of yours work entertaining. I swear…" She shrugged, "So, what did you want to talk about, Gajeel?"

The dragon-slayer scratched his head nonchalantly, "Well, I might have ripped the Shrimp's dress beyond repair last night, and I promised her I'd get her a new one. So…"

The blond laughed pleasurably, interrupting him, "So I was right. That _is_ why you woke up at the park!" Mavis knew she found the way her best friend resolved half of her arguments with the stubborn dragon-slayer out of this world hilarious. Gajeel keeps pushing her off the bed… out the window; Gajeel takes things too far with Jet and Droy… out the window; Gajeel can't control his urges… out the window; Gajeel disturbs Levy's reading time… out the window; Gajeel tries to pull Lily's whiskers out because of his teasing… out the window. Lucy had actually started writing them down just to keep track of it all.

"Tch, whatever, Bunny Girl," he immediately responded. Just like he knew how to push her buttons, she knew perfectly well how to mess with him. "Sure did make up for it this morning, though," he added as his proud side grin reappeared on his face.

Lucy laughed. "I bet… Look, I'll ask Virgo to get you a new dress for Levy-chan. You're lucky you caught me in a good mood. I'll make sure to ask her to include a set of celestial underwear. I know you'll both enjoy it," she stated teasingly, and winked. Obtaining the desired effect, meaning managing to make the black-haired mage blush, she laughed openly.

"Damn you, Bunny Girl!" Gajeel scoffed. "But… I appreciate it. Gi hee" he finished stating as he walked away and averted his gaze from hers.

Lucy watched the embarrassed dragon-slayer leave. She scanned the guild for her blue-haired friend quickly and made her way towards her. The solid script mage was sitting next to Cana near the bar, chatting amiably with Wendy and Charle while the brunette dug into her beer.

"Morning, everyone!" she said once she was close enough.

The three mages and Exceed greeted her back as she sat down next to the dragon-slayer and joined their conversation. For a moment, Lucy wondered what Wendy was still doing talking to them, when she was supposedly looking for the male dragon-slayers. _Oh well, she'll find them later, I guess._

* * *

Gajeel found the pink-haired dragon-slayer sitting at the bar chatting with his blue cat. He plopped onto the seat next to him and said, "You have some evil mate there, Salamander." He watched as Natsu turned to acknowledge him and ask with a big amused smirk, "What'd she do this time?" Gajeel sighed, but before he could answer, the fire mage started laughing, saying in between his chuckles, "I can still see it… the blush, Metal-face… She embarrassed you, didn't she?… What'd she say?"

The iron mage glared at him, "Fuck off, Fire-breath!" shoving his shoulders and trying to hide the faint red on his cheeks. He paused for a moment as he remembered something important, then, he added, "She said she'd get me some _undergarments_ from the celestial realm from that pervy maid for Levy."

At the mention of the word "underwear," Happy decided to leave the two dragon-slayers to their own devices. He'd had enough bad experiences concerning those to know that even if he didn't wear any, those little pieces of clothing were nothing but trouble. Just look at what those accursed stupid flame-themed boxer-briefs had done to him three years ago. Hell no! And if the conversation involved Lucy in any way, shape, or form, it was a double warning sign to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. And, thus, he did.

Natsu straightened up. "Ohhh!~" he playfully said, knowing smirk still on his face, "Those are some really nice treat… You'll like them!"

Gajeel smiled to himself, _Gi hee, I knew he'd take that bait._ He stated, "Really? Maybe I should ask that Lion spirit what he thought about them, you know, to get a second opinion. After all, he has seen Bunny Girl…"

A flaming fist on his jaw interrupted him, forcing him out of his seat as he fell ungracefully on the floor. The black-haired mage raised his head to find the fire dragon-slayer surrounded by a dark aura and his body entirely covered in flames. "Don't fucking mention that shit again, Metal-face. Loke should be glad she wasn't wearing any of those last night or he'd be dead," Natsu said. "Immortal being or not. I'd find a way…" he added darkly.

Gajeel guffawed pleasurably and wiped some tears that came out of his eyes, "Fucking hilarious… You're so easy to provoke, Salamander." He stood up and brushed the dust off his pants. "Though, I'd nailed the fucker to the ground, too," he added, smug side grin on his face. "Guess he didn't see much, huh?" he continued as he sat back down on his stool.

Natsu took a deep breath, calming himself, and retook his seat as well. "No. That stupid pervert was still drunk when he showed up, so he tripped and stumbled to the floor – face first, I might add – without even being able to finish his 'My Princess' monologue," he said, mimicking the celestial's spirit tone of voice and hand gestures. "I had her covered in a blanket in no time. That's why she isn't pissed out of her mind right now. Believe it or not, Lucy is pretty shy when it comes to that, so she'd rather have me burn the house down than some pervert ogling her."

That was indeed the case. He had learned that the easy way, actually. Some years ago, before they had even gotten together, during a mission, the two of them were staying in a hotel where the manager had offered them a free night. He had been particularly keen on giving them a specific room, which turned out to be a special room with a two-sided mirror so the pervert could watch his guests bathe. Due to some accident he couldn't really remember, Natsu had ended up sending Happy flying into the bathroom and breaking the mirror as he landed on it, only to reveal the perverted hotel manager on the other side with an incriminating tube on his hand.

The dragon-slayer had been seriously pissed off and burned the entire establishment down and then proceeded to beat the shit out of the douche bag. Once he had cooled down, he had prepared to hear Lucy complain about him destroying everything he touched, but instead the blond greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and thanked him for protecting her honor. That had turned out to be a good day for him… not so much for the charred asshole who still got a Lucy-kick in the balls before they walked away.

The iron mage guffawed cynically, "Anyways, serves him right. You know that asshole still has that fucking picture of me? Next time, make it extra crispy for me, alright?" He watched his pink-haired guildmate return his devious smirk and join him in his laughter. However, their pleasurable enjoyment of picturing different ways of torturing Loke was cut short by a voice behind them.

"Excuse me, Natsu-san, Gajeel-san," Wendy said, waiting for the two male dragon-slayers to turn around and face her, "I think it is time now for me to claim that favor."

Both men froze on their seats, seeing right through her fake innocence. It seemed to them as if the blue-haired girl standing right in front of them was about to ask them for a necklace made out of Acnologia's translucent black scales. And, then, she spoke. And the two men realized they would have much better liked to go skin the nasty black dragon of the apocalypse one scale at the time to make a dark cloak that suited the evil girl before them so well, than comply with her request.

The blue-haired dragon-slayer had in one sentence destroyed the boys' much anticipated fun. What she wanted was pretty simple, but too demoralizing for the two older dragon-slayers who had been waiting for _years_ for the time of Wendy's mating. Gajeel and Natsu had spent a sizable amount of time scheming about all the horrors they'd make her potential mates suffer. And, just like that, their plans had come crashing down.

Wendy wanted them to accept her mate instantly, no torture, no pranks, no life-threatening glares… Nothing. The little devil had already even _chosen_ her mate, who was now standing at the threshold of the guild waiting for the girl to signal him to come forth. How in fuck's name had they missed the little girl's entire mating? Ah! That's right, she was not a young girl anymore, and the fucking asshole who had just become her mate had realized that centuries before them. _Fuck my life! _They both thought to themselves.

"No fair, Wendy!" Natsu yelled childishly.

"Yes, Pipsqueak, what the fuck? This asswipe needs to at least shit his pants a couple times before we give him the go," Gajeel stated.

Wendy giggled. "No need for that. He's well aware of who you are, what you're capable of doing, and that if he messes up, he'll end up a charred up body cut down in pieces in some remote place of Fiore," she said amusedly.

"Got that right," the black-haired mage insisted, while his pink-haired counterpart continued to sulk and try to change the girl's mind with his pouty and miserable face.

"All right, then!" Wendy chirped, getting closer to give her two older dragon brothers a hug. "Great doing business with you," she said as she pulled away. She giggled once more as she watched them frown again, displeased with the turn of events. "Cheer up, Natsu-san! I heard Lucy-san and Levy-san were talking about going to the thermal baths again in a few days," she added, as she turned around and walked towards the guild's door to bring her mate into the rambunctious building.

Natsu and Gajeel sighed defeated. They felt like little kids whose candy has just been taken away, and not any candy, the candy they had been staring at through the windowpane for fucking years! They turned to look at each other. There was no way skimpy bikinis and beating up perverts was going to cut it this time around. Unless…

"I think we should talk to Virgo before we leave, Metal-head."

"Gi hee, just read my mind, Salamander."

* * *

_Two days later…_

Wendy was sitting at her usual table at the guild. Next to her was her dark-haired mate, who had her right arm over her shoulders protectively. She stared at the scene before her as she rested her head on his chest. Natsu and Gajeel were sitting by the bar, laughing and making fun of each other, and being as ridiculously loud as only they could be. Just a few moments earlier their two mates had come looking for them. Instantly, the iron mage had pulled Levy onto his lap, and started rubbing affectionate circles with his thumbs on her thighs, while Natsu had pulled Lucy by the waist and brought her closer to him, burring his face on her stomach and making the distance between them inexistent. Lucy had instinctively wrapped her arm around his shoulders and leaned into his touch.

Currently, the four mages were discussing what sort of mischief they were sure to cause during another of their now well-known-throughout-Fiore "relaxation getaways," which were clearly everything but relaxing. After that infamous train incident, the two couples had gotten into the habit of taking little trips together. And, while these excursions made the four mages lose sleep because of the anticipation, they made the Master lose some of his already scarce white hair just thinking of the bills he'd be receiving.

"And to think it all started with a favor…" she said aloud in almost a whisper to no one in particular, letting her lips curve into a genuine smile.

The End

* * *

So, how was it? Hope you all enjoyed it.  
In case you were wondering, I left Wendy's mate a mystery on purpose. I think it works better that way.

I do have to say, I'll miss this story now that it's complete. It was one crazy roller-coaster. But I've started working on a new NaLu, first chapter is already up, if you want to go check that out.  
Thanks again everyone who read, followed, and reviewed this story. It was great having you!


	11. Author's Note

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to give Hejmal some deserved credit for going ahead and drawing Gajeel in his cat suit. Even if he's wearing a blue one in the story to make him look like Happy, Hejmal drew him in a pink one just to make Gajeel retch some more…  
So, I'll just drop the link to share… remember to remove the spaces and add all the other stuff too. Hejmdal. deviantart gallery/#/d599ol4  
If you can't find it, it's called "Catsuit Gajeel" by Hejmdal at deviantart.

Thanks for reading,

~PhoenixedDRagon~


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